January 1, in an interview to reporters, Victor Yushchenko said
Ukrainian consumers would not be affected by today’s reduction in Russian gas
supplies, presidential press office reported.
“We want to say that Ukraine has gas and we can tell our
citizens today that they will not be without gas,” he stressed and added that at
his recent meeting with specialists and experts they had discussed mechanisms to
find 120 mln cubic meters of gas per day, which Ukraine no longer receives from
Russia, in our reserve.
“We would like to send messages to the municipal system, local
administrations and industries to sparingly consume gas before the issue is
settled,” Yushchenko said.
“I want to say that no individual will suffer,” he promised and
then noted that citizens should unite.
The Head of State refuted all accusations made by “certain
Russian institutions” as groundless, but said Ukraine intended to continue its
gas talks with Russia.
“I would like to officially say that Ukraine has never given up
the talks and will never do that. I would like to ask Russian President Vladimir
Putin to give relevant political directives to Gazprom to resume the
negotiations,” Yushchenko said.
The President reiterated that Russia’s proposed price rise was
unacceptable as “economically ungrounded.”
“It cannot be discussed,” he said, adding that this increase
might be considered to indicate “discrimination against Ukrainian consumers
because Ukraine’s neighbors receive gas at cheaper prices.”
Yushchenko also opined that the two sides should invoke a
moratorium on the price rise “to conduct a roundtable for specialists” and said
Ukraine was ready to pay a price formulated at these talks. He reiterated that
it was necessary to depoliticize the issue.
“You understand that they began cutting gas supplies on
December 31, violating all previous agreements on transit and supplies of
Russian gas. We regard it as blatant economic pressure,” he said.
The President stressed that Russia had thus failed to fulfill
its commitments for Europe but said Ukraine was still transiting its own
gas.
“I think Ukraine can do this for European consumers for some
time as a gesture of goodwill. But we want to say that Russia has cut gas
supplies for Ukraine and the EU. We must compromise to settle this conflict,” he
concluded.
