Gazprom said Friday that it would continue talks with Ukraine next week on gas supplies and Kiev's debts for them, despite earlier announcing that the issues had been resolved.
Gazprom said in a statement that a new round of talks would start Monday, when Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuriy Boyko returns to Moscow.
Gazprom said Tuesday that it might reduce gas supplies to Ukraine if the country failed to repay a $1.3 billion debt for earlier deliveries.
The threat caused unease in the European Union because a previous pricing dispute between Russia and Ukraine resulted in significant supply reductions to some European Union countries in early 2006.
Gazprom issued the warning as Ukraine was still calculating results of its parliamentary elections, and the move was widely seen as an attempt to put pressure on Ukraine to form a pro-Moscow government. On Wednesday, Gazprom said Ukraine had pledged to redeem the debt before Nov. 1.
The issue is complicated as Ukrainian officials have acknowledged the country may owe some money but disputed the sum named by Gazprom, while President Viktor Yushchenko denied that Ukraine or state-owned Naftogaz owed anything at all.
On Thursday, Gazprom said Ukraine had cut its gas consumption by almost 23 percent in the first three days of October, without saying whether this was linked to the dispute.
Rosneft Says Oil Output Will Rise 25% This Year on Acquisitions
OAO Rosneft, Russia's largest oil producer, said output will probably rise 25 percent to 100.6 million tons this year (2.02 million barrels a day) after buying OAO Yukos Oil Co.'s assets at bankruptcy auctions.
Production will climb 13 percent excluding acquisitions, state-run Rosneft said in an e-mailed statement today. Refining will increase 43 percent to 39.9 million tons, the Moscow-based company said.
Via: Bloomberg |by Torrey Clark
