Russia's top natural gas producer, Gazprom, will eventually lose more than it gains from raising the gas price for Ukraine by 80 percent, analysts said on Friday, predicting Kiev would cut purchases and fail to pay in full, Reuters reported. Gazprom on Thursday announced a price rise for Ukraine to $485 per 1,000 cubic metres, the second increase in three days. The $485 price is the highest of any Gazprom customer and compares with around $370 on average for clients in the European Union. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said the increase, two weeks after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea region, was unacceptable and warned he expected Russia to step up pressure by limiting supplies to Ukraine. "Even if the price is legally justified, it would hurt Gazprom's image, will hit capitalisation and, indirectly, the whole Russian stock market," Valery Nesterov from Sberbank CIB said. Analysts including Nesterov estimated that Gazprom could lose around $2 billion this year from the move. Previous pricing spats have prompted Russia to halt supplies of gas to Ukraine, with consequent cuts in gas flows to Europe, where Russia meets 30 percent of demand. Analysts said Gazprom may turn the taps off again, although immediate cuts are unlikely because of lower gas demand now that winter has ended. Around half the Russian gas delivered to Europe goes through Ukraine, which ships it to Europe from storage sites in the west of the country. -- SPA 19:20 LOCAL TIME 16:20 GMT تغريد
