Kyiv, April 17 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The price of imported gas for Ukraine as of January 2009 won't be lower than $320 per 1,000 cubic meters, according to Konstantin Simonov, the president of the Center for Current Politics in Russia and the director of the National Energy Security Fund.

"In my belief, the price won't be lower than $320. I think it will be between $320 and $350," he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine in Kyiv on Thursday on the role of energy in Russia-Ukraine relations.

As Simonov said, Ukraine, speaking about its European-oriented choice, should be aware that it has insufficient stocks of hydrocarbons, and the "point is whether Ukraine gets its piece of the European gas pie when the gas hunger becomes more acute in 5-10 years."

"Ukraine should start thinking how it will ensure it has access to gas resources in 20-50 years and how it will exist during the 'gas pause epoch,' when Europe faces the most acute deficit of gas, and the countries of the new Europe are unlikely to have any preferences during the distribution of gas stocks," he added.

Moreover, he said, projects for the development of hydrocarbons, in particular, in the Black Sea shelf, are not significant.

"These local projects won't save mankind, including such a consumer as Ukraine. One should not think about them as a full-fledged alternative, as there is no serious base of stocks there," he said.

In his opinion, oil and gas will remain not only the major energy resource in the next 30-40 years, but also a key point of geopolitical conflicts and disputes, including military actions.

Simonov also predicted that soon there would be a transition from the consumption of oil to the consumption of gas, the so-called 'gas pause.' "Gas is quite a younger kind of fuel in terms of development, but it does not lies so evenly in the world as oil," he said.

"Ukraine knew it would happen, but did nothing. Nobody invested money in energy saving in the east and upgraded enterprises that are major gas consumers. Everybody thought they would get through somehow," he said.

However, Simonov said, the costs of Russian gas exported to Ukraine won't depend on political agreements, it will depend on the European price minus transit costs, including for Ukraine.

Most of Simonov's ideas on the future of the energy sector are covered in the expert's book "Global Energy War," which was presented at the press conference in Interfax-Ukraine.