Ukraine delegation for gas talks in Russia Tuesday

(KIEV) - A delegation headed by Ukraine's new fuel and energy minister goes to Russia on Tuesday in the hope of revisiting a gas supply accord between the two countries, the Naftogaz energy firm said Monday.

"Energy Minister Yuri Boiko will lead the Ukrainian delegation," a Naftogaz spokesman told AFP.

"The head of Naftogaz, Yevhen Bakulin, is to participate in it," he added.

Russia and Ukraine, long in dispute over gas and Kiev's pro-western slant, have looked to improve relations after Moscow-leaning Viktor Yanukovych won the presidency last month.

Yanukovych wants to review a 10-year gas agreement inked last year between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and then Ukraine Premier Yulia Tymoshenko as his government faces a series of difficult economic decisions.

Ukraine, hit hard by the global economic crisis, is struggling to pay its gas bills and Yanykovych wants to secure lower prices if possible to give him some breathing room.

Spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov for Russian energy giant Gazprom would not confirm that a Ukrainian delegation was to arrive Tuesday, saying only the officials may arrive "this week."

He declined to discuss the nature of the talks.

Gas supply and pricing have been a source of dispute between Moscow and Kiev, with a spat in January 2009 leading to Russia turning off the taps to Ukraine which in turn left many European countries short.

Russia has long eyed a stake in Ukraine's vast Soviet-era network of pipelines which also takes gas into Western Europe.

Yanukovych's predecessor Viktor Yushchenko ruled out any such pipeline deal but the new leader has said a three-way arrangement, involving Ukraine, Russia and the European Union, is possible.