Ministers have nothing to do with it

Russian-Ukrainian gas agreements are becoming overgrown with scandalous details

Ukrainian ministers seem to have finally fallen out with each other over the essence of the gas agreements signed with Russia. According to the Kyiv weekly Zerkalo Nedeli, some key ministers did not participate in agreeing on the conditions set out in the agreements between Gazprom, Naftogaz and RosUkrEnergo. Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov and the head of the negotiating team, Minister of Fuel and Energy Ivan Plachkov, almost single-handedly persuaded their colleagues to support new agreements on the creation of a joint venture between Naftogaz and RosUkrEnergo - Ukrgazenergo, which will sell fuel within Ukraine. Ministers of Finance Viktor Pinzenyk and Economy Arseniy Yatsenyuk did not want to endorse the documents, since the Russian side categorically disagreed with their proposals. As a result, Ukrgazenergo was created almost under the personal responsibility of Mr. Yekhanurov. Yesterday, in Lvovskaya Gazeta, the head of the Ministry of Finance publicly doubted the correctness of his boss’s actions: “This agreement is not so reliable that the country feels calm in terms of both the balance of gas and its price.” And he immediately emphasized that he did not participate in the negotiations. “How was I supposed to know about the nuances of the negotiations? A week before, I wrote a statement and went on vacation... The Ministry of Finance (depending on what was provided to us) made its conclusions,” Mr. Pinzenyk said.

In addition, Zerkalo Nedeli published details of the gas truce documents signed in Moscow on the night of January 4. Until now, the contents of only one of them were officially known - the basic agreement between Gazprom, Naftogaz and RosUkrEnergo. During the New Year holidays, it was presented to journalists by ex-prime minister and leader of one of the opposition blocs, Yulia Tymoshenko. According to it, the Swiss trader becomes the exclusive supplier of imported gas to Ukraine, and Gazprom gets the opportunity to transport gas to Europe on the terms of cash payment.

Yesterday, on one of the forums of the Mirror of the Week website, copies of six documents that were signed simultaneously with the basic agreement were posted. First of all, this is “Addition No. 1 GU-06 to the contract dated June 21, 2002 between NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine and OJSC Gazprom on the volumes and conditions of transit of Russian natural gas through the territory of Ukraine for the period from 2003 to 2013.” According to the weekly, this document provides, in particular, that in 2006 Gazprom will supply, and Naftogaz will ensure transportation through the territory of Ukraine, 127.777 billion cubic meters of natural gas at a rate of $1.6 per transit of thousand cubic meters per 100 km for a total in the amount of $250 million per year.

In addition, the website contains additional agreements to the natural gas purchase and sale contract dated July 29, 2004 between Naftogaz of Ukraine and RosUkrEnergo. According to these documents, in 2006, NAC first sells RUE on the Turkmen-Uzbek border up to 40 billion cubic meters of gas at a price of $50 per thousand cubic meters for the amount of $2 billion, and then buys back 25 billion cubic meters of gas at a price of $80 in Russian -Ukrainian border for the same amount. True, these additions will obviously be revised, since Turkmenbashi changed his mind about selling 40 billion cubic meters to Naftogaz at $50 per thousand cubic meters.

In accordance with additional agreement No. 7 to the gas purchase and sale contract dated July 29, 2004, in January 2006, RUE was supposed to supply Naftogaz with up to 2 billion cubic meters of gas.

And finally, another additional agreement to the contract dated July 29, 2004 provides that in the period from 2006 to 2030, up to 15 billion cubic meters of gas will be annually stored in Ukrainian underground storage facilities at a rate of $2.25 per thousand cubic meters per season (t .e. for services for injection, storage and subsequent pumping), the total contract amount is $866.25 million.

Gazprom did not comment yesterday on the authenticity of the published documents. And the head of the Ministry of Fuel and Energy of Ukraine, Mr. Plachkov, although he said that he had not seen the publication of “Mirror of the Week,” nevertheless indirectly confirmed that more than one document was signed on the night of January 4.

Alexey GRIVACHS