Firtash Not to Mediate in Ukraine-Russia Gas Trade

A Ukrainian billionaire denied on December 13 that he could return as a middle man in a deal to supply Russian gas to Ukraine, RIA Novosti has reported.

Dmitry Firtash said he had no intention of being an intermediary in gas supplies to Ukraine, according to Ukrainskie Novosti news agency.

The comment followed Russian reports suggesting that there could be a revival of an arrangement in place before 2009, when Russia’s state-owned Gazprom sold gas to an intermediary company, which then resold the fuel to Ukraine's Naftogaz.

"I don't intend to embark on any intermediary activities. All the rest is rumors that are not based on anything," Ukrainskie Novosti reported Firtash as saying.

Rosukrenergo, a company jointly owned by Firtash, his business associate Ivan Fursin and Gazprom, acted as an intermediary in gas sales between Gazprom and Naftogaz until 2009. Vedomosti reported Friday that the scheme could be revived.

Copyright: RIA Novosti, 2013