Ukraine, Slovakia sign gas supply deal

Ukraine has signed an agreement on gas supplies with Slovakia, Energy and Coal Industry Minister Eduard Stavytsky said here Wednesday. "We have signed the agreement and sent it to Slovakia," Stavytsky told reporters without giving details about the deal, which was inked by Ukrtransgaz, the transport arm of the state-run Naftogaz firm, and Slovak pipeline operator Eustream. According to the deal, Kiev could buy natural gas on the European spot market and annually import at least 10 billion cubic meters of gas through Slovakia. Earlier this month, Stavytsky said Kiev had temporarily halted gas purchases from Europe due to its high costs. Ukraine buys gas on the European spot market at around 400 U.S. dollars per 1,000 cubic meters, while Russian gas is sold to Kiev at a price of 268.5 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters in the first quarter of 2013. Ukraine also purchases gas from German energy giant RWE and imports it through Poland and Hungary. Last year, Ukraine imported around 2 billion cubic meters of gas from Europe. In 2013, Ukraine's gas purchases from Russia stood at 28 billion cubic meters.