Agreement on Russian-Ukrainian Gas Consortium to Be Signed in Chisinau Today - 7 October, 2002

The agreement on the creation of the Russian-Ukrainian gas consortium will be signed in Chisinau, during the CIS summit today. This is according to the statement made at the summit in Chisinau by Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma.

According to Mr. Kuchma, Ukrainian government is prepared to agree with every condition put forward by the government of Russia. The conditions, for instance, include increased control over Ukraine's gas imports. In the meantime, Kiev deals away with its biggest problem because now Russia will not build a new gas pipeline circumventing Ukraine.

President of Ukraine said, after his meeting with the President of Russia on Sunday, 'Moscow and Kiev should not split the gas line system between themselves but, instead, fully use the joint potentials of the two countries.