Ukraine has agreed to pay solely in cash for its shipments of gas from Turkmenistan, Prime Minister Yuri Yekhanurov said on Saturday, after the Central Asian state said it was unhappy with Kiev's payments in kind.
"We are moving to payments strictly in cash," Yekhanurov, who visited fellow ex-Soviet republic Turkmenistan this week, told a cabinet meeting.
"There will be no more games from our side over the terms of payment in goods. I cannot allow the fact that only 14-15 percent of goods offered as payment were Ukrainian."
Yekhanurov met officials in Ashgabat for two days this week. He gave no indication when Ukraine, which buys 30-36 billion cubic metres of Turkmen gas annually, would adopt the cash-only system, but said Kiev was keeping to the payment schedule.