Boyko Sees 2007 Gas Price at $106-135/tcm.

Yury Boyko, energy minister, said in an interview published in conjunction with his visit to Moscow yesterday that Ukraine’s gas import price in 2007 would be $106-135/tcm (up from $95). Vladimir Nesterenko: The low range indicates that the Ukrainian government is offering substantial favors to Gazprom, as the $35/tcm increase in the price that Russia pays for Turkmen gas, due to take effect next month, should logically translate into an increase of at least that much in Ukraine’s import price. We stick to our forecast of $130-140/tcm for 2007. However, there could be ways to keep the price for Ukrainian industry lower, such as a mutual agreement allowing Ukraine to re-export some gas. Recently it was reported that the two sides had agreed that Ukraine would import 62 bcm a year of gas over the next three years, which exceeds Ukraine’s import demand by about 5 bcm/year.