Natural Gas Prices in Europe
Prices of natural gas for end-consumers vary greatly throughout Europe. One of the main objectives of the projected single EU energy market, is a common pricing structure for gas products. Europe's main natural gas supplier is Russia. Since the major pipelines pass through Ukraine there is an ever arising dispute on the supply and transition prices between Ukraine and Russia.
During the negotiations in 2008 Ukraine proposed that the price of natural gas for Ukraine should increase by $21.5 to $201 per 1,000 cubic meters, and the transit fee by $0.3 to $2 per 1,000 cubic meters pumped 100 kilometres (62 mi). Russian Gazprom proposed that Ukrainian Naftogaz should buy its natural gas at $250 per 1,000 cubic meters starting from 2009. Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin said that the $250 per 1000 cubic meters price was a "humanitarian gesture" to Ukraine considering that Russia buys gas from Central Asia for $340 and that the European price level is $500 per 1000 cubic meters. Later, Naftohaz said it was ready to pay $235. Negotiations between Gazprom and Naftohaz were interrupted on 31 December 2008. While Gazprom claimed that Naftohaz would not negotiate, Ukraine said that the negotiations were interrupted at Gazprom's initiative.
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