Turkmenistan offered Ukraine a price below that which was charged in the first half of 2005 on condition that the deliveries are paid for exclusively in hard currency -- $44 per thousand cubic meters. Previously a portion of the gas had been paid for in goods under a barter system.
Turkmenistan temporarily cut supplies to both Ukraine and Russia earlier in the year amid a payment row. The deal today was signed by Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov and the head of the Ukrainian firm Naftogaz, Oleksiy Ivshenko.
The Turkmen Foreign Ministry today said in a statement that Ukraine had agreed to supply Turkmenistan with goods at preferential rates until debts for previous natural gas deliveries were paid for. The ministry said those debts amounted to nearly $600 million.
(AFP, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service)
Turkmenistan temporarily cut supplies to both Ukraine and Russia earlier in the year amid a payment row. The deal today was signed by Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov and the head of the Ukrainian firm Naftogaz, Oleksiy Ivshenko.
The Turkmen Foreign Ministry today said in a statement that Ukraine had agreed to supply Turkmenistan with goods at preferential rates until debts for previous natural gas deliveries were paid for. The ministry said those debts amounted to nearly $600 million.
(AFP, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service)
