Ukraine signs protocol with Turkmenistan to purchase natural gas

Ukraine has signed a protocol with Turkmenistan to purchase 50 bn cm (1.75 tcf) of natural gas annually from the central Asian nation for 10 years starting in 2001, the Foreign Ministry said. The deal will be finalised in an accord to be signed by the presidents of the two countries at a later date, the ministry said.
The accord will be signed at an upcoming meeting between the presidents of Ukraine and Turkmenistan.
Under the deal, Ukraine will buy 20 bn cm (700 bn cf) this year, paying $ 42 in a mixture of hard currency and bartered goods per 1,000 cm (35,000 cf) of gas, the two sides said in a statement. "In accordance with the protocol, settlement of natural gas supplies will be realised according to the existing scheme, which combines hard currency payments with supplies of goods, industrial products and services."
The agreement followed a visit by Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko to Ashgabat. Turkmenistan stopped shipping gas to Ukraine in May 1999, citing unpaid bills totalling more than $ 100 mm.
In contrast to previous gas purchase contracts, the new protocol calls on Turkmenistan to transport the gas to its border with Uzbekistan, leaving it to Ukraine to organise and finance shipment of the gas through Uzbekistan and Russia to its own users.