Kiev asks west to press Russia on gas

Ukraine has urged the US and the European Union to help safeguard Russian gas supplies to Ukraine and other eastern European states at the Group of Eight summit in St Petersburg in July.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the economy minister, told the Financial Times in an interview that the security of Ukraine’s energy supplies was a matter not only for Ukraine but for the whole of Europe.

“I hope the G8 will raise this issue. It’s very, very important to co-ordinate our concerns,” he said.

Mr Yatsenyuk said Ukraine was feeling the economic effects of the recent gas supply deal with Russia in which prices were nearly doubled from $50 to $95 per thousand cubic metres.

The full impact would be felt in the second half of the year in slower economic growth and increased inflation, he said.

Mr Yatsenyuk warned that a further sharp increase in prices could cause “the collapse” of the Ukrainian economy.

Financial Times