Ukraine, Slovakia sign deal on reverse gas supply

Ukraine has signed an agreement with Slovakia on reverse flow of natural gas deliveries, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said Monday.

"Ukraine has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Slovak company, which envisages starting of reverse gas supplies via the territory of Slovakia," Xinhua quoted Yatsenyuk telling during a press conference.

According to the deal, Kiev could annually import around 8 billion cubic metres of gas from the European market through Slovakia, Yatsenyuk said.

The deal inked by Ukrtransgaz, the transport arm of the state-run Naftogaz firm, and Slovak pipeline operator Eustream, stipulates that Kiev is due to start reverse gas imports through Slovakia in October.

On April 15, Ukraine has started reverse gas deliveries from Germany's RWE through Poland.

Kiev decided to buy natural gas on the European markets to trim its reliance on Russian supplies, which cost $485 per 1,000 cubic metres in the second quarter of 2014.

The daily price of gas on the European spot market now fluctuates from $350 to 400 per 1,000 cubic meters.