Kyiv, April 2 (RFE/RL) - Ukrainian pipeline officials have confirmed to our Kyiv correspondent that Moscow has agreed to pay the fees Ukraine has imposed on the oil pipeline that passes through Ukraine to Eastern and Western Europe.
Ukraine announced the new, higher fees last autumn. But as they came into effect Jan. 1, Moscow refused to pay, and decided to shut down the supply of oil. As negotiations continued, Russia's Fuel and Energy Ministry has intermittently restricted the flow of oil to Ukraine, and resultingly, to Europe.
Under the terms of the agreement, Moscow will pay 5.20 dollars per ton/per hundred kms for oil transported through the Druzhba pipeline. Ukraine has agreed to adjust the price if Russia's oil exports through the pipeline rise or fall significantly.
Russia had said Ukraine's new fee was too high. But our Kyiv correspondent has reported the amount Russia will pay is virtually the same as the higher price Moscow has demanded recently in pipeline transit fees to other former Soviet republics.