Interfax reported that Ukraine is returning to Swiss registered company RosUkrEnergo an equivalent of the amount of Russian gas consumed in Ukraine in winter 2007/2008.

Mr Yury Prodan Fuel and Energy Minister of Ukraine said that "In the winter period we had definite volumes of supplies of Russian gas, and today this volume is being returned to the Russian Federation without upsetting the balance. This gas 1.3 billion cubic meters is being returned to RosUkrEnergo."

He said that the gas that is being returned comes from Central Asia and is part of the amount planned for this year. He added that at Saturday's meeting the government considered customs aspects of gas imports from Russia "in order to document the return of the gas and hand over the documents to the Russian side."

He also said that the customs formalities would be based on a price of USD 179.5 per 1,000 cubic meters.