However, the Ukrainian leader, who wants to turn his country into a major energy-trading hub, did not say how he planned to persuade Russia to open up its pipelines for Turkmenistan to begin supplying gas outside the former Soviet Union. "Europe will have its energy balance in any case, with or without us," Yushchenko said. "I would like to see it happening with us. I'm also talking here about Turkmen interests. I hope we are going to step in together (with Ashgabat) on a completely new level. We are not discussing it in public yet," he added. Landlocked Turkmenistan has struggled since independence in1991 to gain access to markets outside Russia and Ukraine, especially in Europe; all its projects have so far collapsed due to the opposition of Gazprom, very high costs, and a difficult investment climate in the country led by President Saparmurat Niyazov. Earlier this year, Ashgabat halted gas supplies to both Russia and Ukraine, demanding prices be raised to $58 per 1,000 cum from last year's price of $44, but later resumed shipments amid a continuing pricing dispute. Gazprom says it still considers the old price valid, while energy-hungry Ukraine says it is already paying $58, but would prefer a broader long-term deal. This may involve Turkmen participation in the Ukrainian consortium, which could also involve Gazprom and Germany's Ruhrgas, with plans to invest billions in upgrading Ukraine's existing pipelines to Europe and building new links. Gazprom has opposed surrendering its export monopoly to Europe, which buys one quarter of its gas from the Russian firm, but it also needs cheap Turkmen gas as a backstop until Russia's Arctic fields start to come on-stream. Turkmenistan produces around 60-billion cum/yr of gas and exports around 42-billion cum, but plans to boost shipments abroad to more than 80 billion cum by the end of this decade under long-term deals with Russia and Ukraine. Ashgabat has gas reserves of 3 trillion cum, the world's 11th largest, according to BP's Statistical Review of World Energy Resources, but believes it controls much larger deposits.