Ukraine is stepping up pressure on Russia to revise a long-term natural gas contract signed in 2009.
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov says the agreement contradicts a 2004 intergovernmental deal between Kiev and Moscow, and so must be revised.
He also said Friday that the national gas company Naftogaz will eventually be restructured into several smaller firms, thus rendering the 2009 contract ineffective. He says a new contract between Russian energy giant Gazprom and those new Ukrainian energy companies will have to be signed.
Kiev is pushing to lower the price for Russian gas supplies, and says the terms of the 2009 contract are ruinous for the Ukrainian economy. Azarov has threatened Russia with unspecified consequences if the agreement is not revised.
