KIEV, June 2 (RAPSI) – Ukrainian Naftogaz in its lawsuit against Russian monopoly Gazprom will demand a fixed price of $268,5 per 1,000 cubic metres of gas, Ukrainian Justice Minister Pavel Petryenko told RIA Novosti on Monday.

Until January 1 2014, the price of Russian gas for Ukraine was $385,5 for a thousand cubic meters. In the first quarter of 2014, a price of $268,5 was in effect after negotiations between the companies in accordance with other economic treaties. Presently, the price is being calculated with a contract formula (disregarding any sales since April 1) and is comprised of $485 for a thousand cubic meters.  Kiev authorities demand the return of the $268,5 price.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, earlier appointed acting prime minister of Ukraine by Verkhovna Rada, in his address to the European Commission and EU leaders regarding the distribution of Russian gas, claimed that Gazprom’s response to a pre-trial notice from Naftogaz indicates that the gas producer refuses to negotiate. Yatsenyuk also said that if nothing changes, Kiev will file a lawsuit with the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce in late May.

Ukraine is requesting that Gazprom review a number of provisions in its contract with Naftogaz – first of all, reduction in the price that Kiev believes is unreasonably high. Ukrainian Minister of Energy Yuriy Prodan also said the existing debt for Russian gas– estimated at $3.5 bn by Gazprom – could also be reduced.

Naftogaz Ukraine is Ukraine’s largest vertically integrated oil and gas company. It produces over 97% of oil and gas in the country.