Ukraine hopes for Russia gas deal `outside court`
KIEV – Ukraine, which wants to negotiate a cut in the contracted amount and price of its natural gas imports from Russia, hopes to find a solution without having to go to court for arbitration, Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko said on Monday, Reuters reported.
The comments followed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich's statement last week that Kiev will take the issue to the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal if Russia does not offer a better deal on natural gas supply.
Ukraine, hit by an economic crisis, is asking Russia to review a gas contract struck in 2009 and says the price is too high. The contract says the two sides should go to international arbitration to solve disagreements.
The negotiation is being followed closely in the European Union as 80 percent of Russia's gas exports to the EU flow through pipelines across Ukrainian soil and such disagreements have led in the past to supply disruptions.
Yanukovich said the court should be "the last authority".
"As to the Stockholm arbitration, there is one group of people which is always interested in court action -- lawyers," Gryshchenko said at a news conference.
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