BLBG:Medvedev Says Russia-Ukraine Ties Aren’t Just About Gas
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said relations with Ukraine are about more than just the price of natural-gas supplies.
Ties between the two countries “shouldn’t just boil down to which price to pay for gas,” Medvedev said today in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk. “There are other values.”
The Russian leader is meeting his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych, who is seeking a lower price for gas imports from its neighbor to help unlock the next tranche of a $15.6 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund.
Relations have become strained after Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was jailed for abuse of office in signing a 2009 gas agreement with Russia, a move Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Oct. 11 had an “anti-Russian” flavor.
Ukrainian-Russian trade is set to reach a record $50 billion this year, Yanukovych said today.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lyubov Pronina in Moscow at lpronina@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net
