<p>The former Soviet state of Turkmenistan has told Gazprom that it intends to increase the price of the natural gas it supplies to Russia from $65 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas to $100 from next month.<br /><br />This bold move comes in the wake of Gazprom using hardball negotiation tactics earlier in the year to significantly increase the price paid for its gas supplies by neighboring states such as Ukraine and Georgia.<br /><br />According to a report from the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, Gazprom appears to be playing down the issue, instead choosing to talk of its confidence in securing a deal at the existing price.<br /><br />A contract is being implemented on Gazprom buying 30 billion cubic meters of gas in Turkmenistan at $65 per thousand cubic meters, RIA Novosti quoted a Gazprom spokesperson as saying. <br /><br />However, external reports suggest that the Turkmens are threatening to reduce, or even cut, gas supplies to Gazprom if its price hike demands are not met. <br /><br />If within a month and a half we don't work out a contract with Gazprom, Turkmenistan will halt the exports, the Turkmen government said in a statement.<br /><br />However, with the majority of the Turkmen gas being earmarked for export westwards by Gazprom, it is plausible that the ultimate victims of this latest dispute could be the Ukraine and its neighbors in the western sphere of the former Soviet bloc, which have already suffered as Gazprom earmarks supplies for more lucrative western European markets.</p>
