March 4, 2013 - 10:56 AMT
Russian, Ukrainian leaders to meet for energy cooperation talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych will meet in Moscow on Monday, March 4 to discuss energy cooperation but do not plan to sign any documents, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to RIA Novosti.

“The sides will discuss bilateral cooperation issues, including energy,” Peskov told RIA Novosti, adding that they are expected to touch upon Ukraine’s gas transportation system and Russia’s possible participation in a consortium managing it. The leaders are in particular expected to discuss the price for Russian gas supplied to Ukraine.

Yanukovych’s visit was initially planned for December 18, 2012, but was postponed due to uncoordinated technical details relating to the two countries’ energy cooperation.

The two leaders will also discuss integration of their countries’ nuclear power industry sectors and exchange opinions on “various integration processes.”

Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz Ukrainy has repeatedly informed Russian energy giant Gazprom that it would reduce the amount of gas it buys from Russia to 27 billion cubic meters a year. That amount is just over half of what Ukraine is obligated to buy under the terms of the 2009 gas deal.