Ukraine PM: There Will Be No More Gas Middlemen

KYIV (Reuters) -- Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said on January 9 there would be no more gas intermediaries between Russia and Ukraine.

"There will be no intermediaries at all between Ukraine and Russia on the gas market," Tymoshenko said. "There will be direct contracts between Ukraine and Russia."

"I would like the October memorandum to be the basis of our agreements with Russia," she said, referring to a deal with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in October which stipulated a three-year gradual move to market prices for gas and the abolition of intermediaries.