Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has said the liquefied natural gas (LNG) price hike in Ukraine is a plot and diversion against the country and tasked the requisite ministries, Ukraine's anti-monopoly committee, the State Fiscal Service and law-enforcement agencies to investigate the reason for the price hikes.

Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers said the PM held an inter-governmental meeting on the issue.

Groysman said order must restore to the nation's LNG market.

"I want the responsible agencies to sort out the LNG situation for the automotive transportation market. Such a sharp price hike has all the hallmarks of corruption. The market is suffering. This is a diversion against Ukraine. We must defend Ukrainian users, ordinary citizens," he said.

The PM's statement says despite the steady growth of the market there is a lack of infrastructure for creating reserves and, simultaneously, during last year, the number of LNG traders supplying Russian LNG has diminished, leading to the latest price increases.

"This is the result of a monopoly. I demand Ukraine's Anti-Monopoly Committee take more decisive action and report on the number of traders who work on this market, the sources of supply, etc. I will present this information to Ukraine's president. But now it is necessary to reach consensus among market players. They must reduce prices in the coming weeks," Groysman said, adding that the Fiscal Service and National Police should carefully study market players, especially unscrupulous traders.

Groysman also said he would meet with deputy PMs within a week and propose steps to rectify the situation.