KIEV, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian government said on Wednesday it has started a legal procedure to seize the Ukrainian assets of Russian gas giant Gazprom.
The procedure is carried out on the basis of the decision of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, which found Gazprom guilty of abusing monopoly power on the Ukrainian gas market, said a statement on the Ukrainian government website.
According to the statement, Ukraine plans to seize either property or the securities of four Ukrainian companies linked to Gazprom, including the gas transit arm Gaztransit.
Ukraine plans to raise about 24.176 million U.S. dollars from selling the Gaztransit securities via the public auction, the statement said.
Gazprom has suggested to Ukraine's state-owned energy firm Naftogaz a date to meet to discuss termination of contracts, Russia's Sputnik news agency quoted Gazprom deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev as saying Wednesday.
In 2009, Ukraine and Russia signed two separate agreements on the supplies of Russian gas to Ukraine and on its transit to Europe via the Ukrainian territory. Both deals expire in 2019.
The Russian gas supplies to Ukraine have been suspended since November 2015, as the two countries failed to reach an agreement on pricing.
Last week, Gazprom announced the plans to terminate all gas deals with Ukraine at an arbitration tribunal in Stockholm, Sweden.
