Ukraine halts gas imports from Russia over pricing row

KIEV - Ukraine on Wednesday suspended natural gas imports from Russia as EU-brokered talks in Vienna failed to reach agreement on pricing, Ukraine's national energy firm Naftogaz said.

The suspension will not affect the flow of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine, said the press service of Naftogaz in a statement.

Naftogaz expects that Kiev and Moscow will reach soon a new gas pricing arrangement, which would cover Russian gas supplies to Ukraine till April 2016, it said.

In October 2014, Moscow has granted Kiev a discount of $100 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas to help cash-strapped Ukraine overcome the winter heating season.

After the agreement expired on March 31, Russia extended the discount until June 30.

Currently, Ukraine is seeking further extension of the price cut, claiming that without the discount the gas imported from Russia would be more expensive than fuel purchased on the European spot market.

Earlier this month, Russia has offered Ukraine a gas price of about 247 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters for the third quarter of 2015, but Kiev said the price should be 47 dollars lower.