Proposal to freeze Russia's gas prices slammed

Russia’s state-owned gas giant Gazprom today criticised a proposal by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko to freeze the price of gas it supplies to Ukraine until January 10.

Yushchenko’s proposal to Russian President Vladimir Putin was to order both countries’ gas companies to complete talks on supplies and transit in 2006 and sign a contract in the first 10 days of January, freezing prices until then, according to a statement released by Yushchenko’s office.