Interfax cited Mr Viktor Yanukovych President of Ukraine as saying that Ukraine has prepared documents needed to file a lawsuit on the gas dispute with Russia.

Mr Yanukovych said Kyiv wants Moscow to be guided by the price formula adopted with Germany while defining the price of gas to be shipped to Ukraine, minus transportation costs and the additional discount of USD 100 per 1,000 cubic meters laid down in the Kharkiv agreements.

Mr Yanukovych said "We've been in talks for 18 months on this issue and we have been paying to the day and to the month in compliance with the contracts. The talks lasting 18 months have not been a success. But they must be finalized after all. Russia's position is absolutely unacceptable for us. If it is not changed, we will turn to international arbitration courts. There is a system of international courts in Stockholm and in The Hague."

He said that "What is at issue now is a return to the fair price the price charged from Germany minus USD 70 of the transit tariff from the Russian border to Germany. Incidentally, E.ON Ruhrgas has sued Gazprom demanding a revision of the contract price. What we are talking about is that the current German price be taken as the basic price."

(Sourced from Interfax)