Turkmenistan is calling for a 30 percent hike in the price of natural gas it exports to Russia, Gazprom said on Friday, in a move that could imperil tricky talks with Ukraine over gas supplies as a New Year deadline looms.
Alexei Miller, the Russian gas giant’s CEO, on Friday blamed European and US officials courting the Central Asian state for provoking the demand for the hike. He warned Ukraine, which has accepted two stiff price hikes in recent years, would again bare the brunt of any increase, as most of the gas Gazprom purchases from Turkmenistan is then resold to Ukraine.
