Ukraine - Russia Gas talks stall - Europeans better get ready for a 'Russian Winter" (
RT).
Kiev has not been paying for gas it imports from Russia for months, resulting
in a multibillion dollar debt mounting. Russia says that it would invoke the
prepay option of the standing contract and would only deliver as much gas as
Kiev pays for in advance starting Monday. With Ukraine not willing to pay, this
would mean an effective cut-off.
Russia offered a $100 discount to gas price roughly to the level that the
Europeans pay. The offer includes recalculation of the current debt, which would
revalue gas supplied since April with the discount applied, but Kiev rejected
this plan, saying it’s not good enough.
“Ukraine has been offered a very generous discount and yet they still
want more. It really is quite incredible – the nerve and the chutzpah of the
Ukrainian government in all this. I don’t think any amount of discount would
really satisfy Ukraine. They are spoiling for a fight here,” believes
journalist Neil Clark.
Instead of compromising and settling the debt, Kiev seems to be preparing to
raise the stakes. Over the past few months it has been pumping as much unpaid
Russian gas into its underground gas storages as it could and now says it has
enough to last till autumn.
Kiev’s desire to dictate the terms to Russia may have an irrational basis
underneath, international law expert Alexander Mercouris told RT.
“It is difficult for the Ukrainians at this time to negotiate with
Russians about anything. There are many people in Kiev who don’t like
that,” he said.
“One of the fundamental problems with the way in which the Ukrainian
authorities have been dealing with their multiple crises since they took power
in February is that they don’t seem to show very much grasp of reality,” he
added.
There are also concerns that Kiev would eventually simply siphon off gas it
transits from Russia to European consumers, as was the case during previous
rounds of gas stand-offs.
A more distant problem will arise in winter. Normally Ukraine would
accumulate gas intended for Europe in summertime and deliver it in winter,
because that’s how the Ukrainian gas pipeline system is designed. With gas from
the storages use for Ukraine’s own consumption, there would simply not be enough
for Europe next winter.
“The Ukrainian government has been intransigent and putting the people of
Europe at risk. That’s why the EU is actually cautiously supporting Russia’s
position at this time,” political analyst Bill Dores told RT.
Ukraine has for years enjoyed a politically motivated preferred treatment by
Russia in terms of gas price discounts, he added. Now there is a government in
Kiev hostile towards Russia, and Moscow has no reason to support it.
An escalating conflict would hurt all the three parties involved. But the
Ukrainian government may be tempted to raise the stakes now, said Mercouris.
“There is an expectation that once things are deteriorating in Ukraine,
it could be blamed on the Russians,” he explained.
With Ukrainian economy already in peril, painful austerity measures demanded
by international creditors in exchange for loans and a political turmoil in the
eastern provinces, Kiev has loads of blame to apportion in the future.
Hmmmm.....Better stock up on Wooleys, Cause Europe can't deliver much Hydro power either !! You heard it first at MFS.
Updates:
2.
Russia and Ukraine fail
to reach gas deal ahead of cut-off deadline
1. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed concern in telephone talks with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier about Saturday's attack on the Russian embassy in Kiev and about the Western partners' refusal to condemn it in the UN Security Council.
"Telephone talks were held on June 15 between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and German Foreign Minster Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Continuing the discussion held in trilateral talks on Saturday between Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, the Russian and German foreign ministers discussed the Russia-Ukraine-European Union gas agenda and the situation surrounding the planned signing of an association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement in Moscow on Sunday.
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