Russia and Ukraine will step up efforts...
"We have instructed the Russian-Ukrainian subcommittee on cooperation to step up work, including on the consortium for modernizing the gas transportation system," Shmatko said.
Ukraine"s gas transportation system is one of Europe"s largest gas pipeline networks and the main route for Russian natural gas supplies to European consumers.
In the early 2000s, Kiev and Moscow discussed the possibility of creating a gas transport consortium with the involvement of European partners to manage and modernize the Soviet-era network. The project was, however, put on hold when west-leaning President Viktor Yushchenko came to power in Ukraine as a result of the "orange revolution" in 2004.
Russia has consistently tried to obtain a stake in the Ukrainian gas pipeline network to modernize the system and ensure uninterrupted gas supplies to Europe. Ukraine has until now resisted these attempts, saying they would jeopardize its sovereignty.