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Gazprom to Hike Gas Price for Slovakia
Gazprom is willing to hike by 10 percent the gas prices for Slovensky Plynarensky Priemysel (SPP) gas distributor in 2007, the Pravda newspaper of Slovakia reported.
Russia attempts to review prices for gas supplies, Pravda announced referring to the SPP briefer. Russia’s gas monopoly, Gazprom, submitted the respective inquiry after Slovakian Economy Minister Ľubomír Jahnátek visited Moscow past November.
The change in prices will depend on the outcome of negotiations between SPP and Gazprom, the minister said Monday.
For SPP, the gas prices of Gazprom are governed by the long-term agreement expiring late 2008. Pursuant to the document, the price is calculated based on the average price of nine months and on the rate of exchange of Slovak koruna to the U.S. dollar. Since past summer, those factors have been rather in favor of lower prices, Pravda pointed out.
The tricky point is that the agreement also empowers Gazprom to violate the price revision schedule. SPP will have some time for negotiations and may even refer to the International Arbitration should no agreement be attained in the end.
The Moscow tour of Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is slated for this April. Gas prices will be the highlight of the agenda, the PM said, specifying that the agreement for natural gas supplies will be one of his top concerns during the visit.
www.kommersant.com
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