24.06.03

Turkmen-Ukrainian gas accord for 2004 may be signed soon

The Turkmen government and Naftogaz of Ukraine may soon sign a contract for Turkmen gas supplies to Ukraine in 2004.

Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov and Naftogaz of Ukraine head Yuriy Boiko reached a pertinent agreement at a Friday meeting, a presidential administration source reports.

In the framework of a five-year agreement for 2002-2006, Ukraine this year will purchase 36 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan at a price of $44 per 1,000 cubic meters. The source declined to specify the amount of gas and the prices for next year.

Other topics for discussion included preparation of a 25-year agreement to be implemented from 2007. Niyazov tasked the Turkmen government with drafting the agreement in keeping with demand on the Ukrainian gas market and the long-term accord signed with Russia's Gazprom in April 2003.

"Turkmenistan intends to actively increase the export of its energy sources," Niyazov noted at the meeting.

(Interfax)