OREANDA-NEWS. January 18, 2012. Prime Minister Mykola Azarov is convinced that all gas issues will be resolved through negotiations. He said this at a briefing in Khmelnitskiy.

The Head of Government stressed that Ukraine intends to significantly reduce purchases of imported Russian gas.

"We clearly said to them: we are not going to buy such huge volumes of gas for the one side contract", - Mykola Azarov said. But he stressed that Ukraine now purchase Russian natural gas at over \\$ 500 per thousand cubic meters.

At same time the PM noted that, for example, the United States purchase natural gas at a cost of about USD 100.

"What wrong have we done to buy such expensive gas? So it is time to stop, it is time for us to answer why our people have to pay such a high price", - Mykola Azarov said.

But he stressed that the negotiation team led by Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Yuriy Boyko is in Russia, where negotiations are holding with the leadership of "Gazprom" to review the crippling gas contracts of 2009 year.