Kiev, Baku Ponder LNG supply venture

Kiev is to carry out a feasibility study with Baku for a joint venture to supply Azerbaijani liquefied natural gas supplies to Ukraine, in a bid to diversify gas supply routes, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said on Monday. Ukraine plans to build an LNG terminal on the Black Sea coast near Odessa to receive gas. Kiev hopes to import up to two billion cubic meters of LNG per year by the end of 2014, up to five billion cu m by late 2015 and 10 bcm by 2018, Azarov told Azerbaijani Trend news agency. Ukraine, unhappy with its dependence on Russian gas, has been seeking alternative energy sources and different gas supply routes. Russia and Ukraine have been embroiled in a long running dispute over the price and volume of Russian gas purchased by Ukraine. Kiev insists the current price is too high, while Moscow is pushing for control of Ukraine’s gas transit system to Europe, as part of a deal to cut prices.