A joint venture has been created to supply Russian gas to Ukraine as part of a deal the two countries reached at the start of this year, Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Thursday.

Ukraine's national oil and gas company Naftogaz Ukrainy and the intermediary RosUkrEnergo set up the join venture on a parity basis, which is called Ukrgaz-Energo and will be registered in Ukraine, Gazprom's press service was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. RosUkrEnergo is 50 percent owned by Gazprom.

The shareholders of Ukrgaz-Energo held a meeting in Kiev on Thursday, at which Gazprom deputy chairman Alexander Ryazanov was elected the new joint venture's chairman.

Ukrgaz-Energo will be engaged mainly in supplying natural gas and other types of energy resources to Ukrainian consumers.

After a bitter, months-long dispute over gas prices, Gazprom and Naftogaz Ukrainy clinched a deal on Jan. 4, under which Gazprom will sell gas for 230 U.S. dollars per 1,000 cubic meters to RosUkrEnergo, which will mix the Russian gas with cheaper gas from Central Asia and sell the blend to Ukraine for 95 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters.

Source: Xinhua