Ukraine asks court to invalidate transit deal with Russia

(KIEV) - Ukrainian authorities have asked a Kiev court to invalidate an agreement with Moscow on the transit of Russian gas through the country's territory, Ukraine's energy ministry said on Monday.

The move came amid a standoff between the two countries over deliveries of Russian gas that has led to reductions in gas supplies to the European Union. Ukraine is a key transit country for exports of Russian gas to the EU.

"The Fuel and Energy Ministry has filed a lawsuit in a Kiev court requesting it to recognise as no longer valid agreements on the transit of Russian gas over Ukraine's territory, which were in force until the end of 2010," the ministry said in a statement.

According to the ministry, Russia was to pay 1.6 dollars per 1,000 cubic metres of natural gas that it sent through 100 kilometers of Ukrainian territory in 2009 under the agreement.

Ukrainian officials have previously put the figure at 1.7 dollars. Officials at the court where the lawsuit was filed could not be reached for comment.

The ministry claimed the agreements were no longer in force because they had been signed by an official from Naftogaz who was not authorised by the government to sign the deals.

The court is scheduled to hear the case on January 9, the ministry said.

Naftogaz, which is responsible for sending Russian gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine, has been at loggerheads with Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom in the midwinter gas standoff.

Gazprom halted gas supplies to Ukraine's domestic market on January 1 saying that Ukraine owed it over two billion dollars.