OREANDA-NEWS. October 02, 2013. By refusing to reconsider the oppressive gas deal Russia will lose a huge gas importer while Ukraine – time and money necessary for the social area. Prime Minister Mykola Azarov accentuated while answering questions in Facebook.

“We are saying frankly to our Russian partners that as a result of your refusal from reconsidering gas agreements both you and us will lose. You will lose the largest gas purchaser and we will lose time and money that we could be used for solving urgent tasks for us, those more significant for our people,” Mykola Azarov has said.

He underlined nowadays this issue was actual through a very high gas price which exceeded USD 500 per thousand cubic meters and which had made unprofitable the work of numerous national enterprises and forces to overpay tremendous sums in foreign currency.

“At first we were trying to agree on reconsidering, but the deal clinched by Tymoshenko had been drawn up so unfavorably for us that, practically it didn’t leave us a possibility without a good will of Russia either to appeal it or reconsider in the course of a negotiation process. By realizing that a consent to reconsider the contract can be failed to receive, we have approved a decision to develop activities in increase of domestic gas extraction, diversification of supplies, transition from use of gas to other energy sources, maximal economy of gas,” Mykola Azarov has said and noted that all these activities demanded colossal expenses which the Government was forced to draw away, for instance, from healthcare, education, road construction etc.

Prime Minister emphasized that presently the country is in a state when it proves vital to modernize industry, social sphere, systems of healthcare, education and many others. “So, we are made to settle [the tasks]. But in the nearest years we will solve these tasks,” Mykola Azarov assured.