Gazprom denies Ukrainian gas contract

Gazprom and Naftogaz have failed to agree on a deal to review gas contracts for Ukraine, although the sides managed to bring their positions closer, a spokesman for the Russian gas giant said on Monday. "There have been no agreements between Gazprom and Naftogaz to review gas contracts," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said. "However, the sides managed to bring their positions closer at this weekend's talks in Moscow." He said negotiations are to continue this week. Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov told a delegation from the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly on Monday that Russia had agreed to review its current gas deal with Ukraine, the national Ukrinform agency said. He also said Russia had agreed to set up a consortium with Ukraine and the European Union to manage Ukraine's gas transportation system. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who has said on many occasions that the current gas price formula with Russia is unfair and has been seeking to revise the 2009 gas contract, held a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Saturday to settle the long-running deadlock. Following the meeting, the Ukrainian president's press office said that "considerable progress had been reached during the negotiations" but declined to specify.