December 29, 2005, 19:36 Business

“Very bad,” the president said

Mikhail Krasnov The next round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on tariffs for the supply and transit of gas again ended in nothing. Vladimir Putin expressed displeasure with the gas impasse and suggested that Ukraine take a $3.5 billion loan from Russia to pay for gas. “The economy has again been replaced by politics,” experts assessed the president’s contribution to the negotiations.

The next negotiations between the heads of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Energy and the Ukrainian Ministry of Fuel and Energy Viktor Khristenko and Ivan Plachkov again ended in nothing. The proposal brought by Plachkov suggested increasing the cost of gas from $50 to $85 per thousand cubic meters while increasing the transit tariff from $1.09 to $1.75 per thousand cubic meters per 100 km.

However, the Russian side, which insists on gas supplies to Ukraine at a price of $230 per thousand cubic meters, considered this option unacceptable. “We have three documents at work - two contracts (on gas transit and supplies - Gazeta.Ru ) and an intergovernmental protocol for 2006, which ensures them. Today, the only figure that is beyond doubt is the volume of possible gas transit to Europe - at least 110 billion cubic meters. “The parties did not reach an agreement on the remaining figures - both in terms of supply volume and price,” Khristenko said after the end of the negotiations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was not at all satisfied with the Russian-Ukrainian trampling in the gas impasse.

“You simply created a real crisis not only in the energy sector. This crisis is similar to a crisis between countries,” the president expressed his dissatisfaction. - This is very bad".

“We should under no circumstances put each other in a difficult situation and should give Ukrainian partners the opportunity to build their budget so that it can adapt to market relations,” Putin was indignant .

Having calmed down a little, the head of the Russian state proposed an unexpected solution to the problem.

“We are ready to provide a commercial loan directly to your company, Naftogaz, under guarantees from one of the first-class international banks, either European or American,” Putin “delighted” Alexey Ivchenko .

After that, he estimated how much Ukraine would need to pay for Russian gas. The amount turned out to be impressive - $3.6 billion. In a similar situation with Belarus, Russia limited itself to a much smaller loan of $200 million for a period until 2009. However, Vladimir Putin definitely proceeded from current gas prices.

Does Gazprom agree? — the head of state addressed representatives of the Russian company. deputy chairman of the board of Gazprom, immediately responded “Yes, of course,” Alexander Ryazanov, .

But the head of the State Administration of Ukraine, Igor Tarasyuk, immediately announced that Ukraine could not accept the loan offer. “I think that this cannot be perceived from the point of view of our interests. Until we decide on the price of gas and the cost of transit, we cannot talk about it,” he said. — If it’s 80 or 50 dollars, then it’s clear that we don’t need loans. We can’t approve the $230 price they’re offering, so what credits can there be if we don’t recognize the price?”

“A loan could be a completely acceptable solution for Ukraine, because it currently does not have the resources to pay for gas,” says Ray, Man & Gor Securities analyst Anton Rubtsov. “But I don’t think that Naftogaz will do this, because they had such an opportunity before.” The expert notes that accepting a loan will actually be equated by Russia to agreeing to market prices.

“Ukraine cannot agree to this. Its production, especially heavy industry and chemistry, will become unprofitable,” Rubtsov is sure.

“This is not a solution to the issue for Ukraine, because gas prices will in any case be brought into line with European prices,” Zenit Bank analyst Evgeniy Suvorov has no doubt .

Despite all the statements from both the Ukrainian and Russian sides that the political component should be excluded from gas negotiations, gas trading has long been considered by experts primarily as a political struggle.

This opinion is perfectly confirmed by Putin’s statement today that “it’s one thing to subsidize our neighbors and friends, who, like us, are emerging from the difficult situation of a planned economy, and another thing to subsidize, for example, Indian business in Ukraine.”

(Putin means that the Indian company Mittal Steel, which bought the Ukrainian Krivorozhstal plant, will have the opportunity to use preferential Russian gas.)

“This is a war of statuses,” Rubtsov has no doubt. — If we compare the price of $230 per thousand cubic meters that we set for Ukraine with gas prices for other republics, it turns out that Russia subsidizes many of the countries of the post-Soviet space. It immediately becomes clear that Russian-Ukrainian gas negotiations have long moved from the economic to the political plane.” “The issue was initially political, Putin’s participation made this even more obvious,” says Yevgeny Suvorov. “I think that until Russia gains access to the gas transportation system, Gazprom’s position will remain unchanged.”

“Very bad,” said the President