Ukraine Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuriy Prodan has stated that he expects Russia to hike the price of its natural gas by at least 37% in April, amid mounting tensions between the two countries over Crimea.
The prices are expected to increase to $368.50 per 1,000m³, up from $268.50 in the first quarter.
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Pro-Russian forces have taken over Crimea, and currently have plans to hold a referendum on March 16 on whether to join Russia. Russian armed forces are accused by the Ukrainian government as well as the EU and US of direct involvement in the takeover.
On 3 March, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said that gas supplies to Ukraine will be cut off by Russia. A contingency plan is in place by the government in order to secure alternative gas supplies from Europe.
"We have an agreement with RWE on supplies of 5 billion cubic metres of gas a year," Prodan said.
In early January, Ukraine suspended natural gas imports through Europe after it was granted a 33% discount by Russia.
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By GlobalDataGazprom CEO Alexei Miller told Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev that the company would cancel Ukraine’s discount in April.
Miller cited Ukraine’s failure to pay approximately $2bn in debt accumulated in 2013. Prodan said that the country paid $100m last week and would make another installment later this month.
In 2013, Ukraine imported 1.99 billion cubic metres of gas from Europe. Of the total, 1.13 billion cubic metres was supplied through Poland, while another 870 million cubic metres came through Hungary.
