Yushchenko remembered gas

The President of Ukraine criticized the new agreements with Russia

Another escalation of political battles in Ukraine between the country's president and the government could provoke instability in gas supplies. Yesterday, Viktor Yushchenko joined the accusations (albeit in more cautious formulations) against the government of Viktor Yanukovych of its inability to defend its interests in the field of gas imports. And he promised that the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) would soon form a clearer position on this matter. Thus, the head of state for the first time since his Maidan comrade Yulia Tymoshenko left for the opposition supported her claims to the cabinet of ministers. Of course, there is no talk yet about the possibility of terminating the signed contracts, but it is obvious that the repoliticization of the gas topic will not add reliability to the gas supply schemes of Ukraine and Europe. In addition, the president expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the price of purchased gas has increased, while the transit rate for Russian gas has remained unchanged. Although earlier, it was with his direct participation that the process of separating contracts for the supply of raw materials to Ukraine and transportation through the Ukrainian gas pipeline system began. In addition, Viktor Yushchenko complained that the status of the gas agreement had been reduced “from intergovernmental to corporate.” “Everyone understands that gas and oil are elements of politics,” the president said.

Ukraine became the first state (among those receiving gas from Russia not under long-term contracts) to sign a gas agreement for 2007. Two weeks ago, the Swiss trader RosUkrEnergo (owned on a parity basis by the Gazprom group and the structures of entrepreneur Dmitry Firtash) and the Ukrgazenergo company (a joint venture of RUE and Naftogaz of Ukraine) signed a contract for the supply of 55 billion cubic meters of gas at a price of $130 per thousand cubic meters. It is expected that, together with the 20 billion cubic meters produced in Ukraine, they will fully ensure the country’s gas balance next year. To supply Ukraine, RUE will purchase from Gazprom Turkmen and Uzbek gas contracted by the Russian monopolist. The relevant documents have not yet been signed, but most likely the purchase price for the trader will be a little more than $100 per thousand cubic meters.

“The Presidential Secretariat will finalize all the nuances of the Ukrainian-Russian gas agreement in order to formulate a clearer position for Ukraine on this issue at a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council,” Mr. Yushchenko said at a press conference in Kharkov. At the same time, the country's president expressed critical remarks about the latest Ukrainian-Russian gas agreements. “Ukraine did not defend the gas price it received in 2006. The statements (obviously, this refers to Mr. Yanukovych’s promises to prevent a sharp jump. - Ed. ) turned out to be much louder than the possibilities, abilities, and professionalism to defend these declarations,” he complained.

And in order to distance himself from the agreements that the Minister of Fuel and Energy of Ukraine Yuriy Boyko reached with Gazprom and the Swiss trader RosUkrEnergo, Mr. Yushchenko had to sign for a complete lack of control over the course of the negotiations and even clear information upon their completion. According to him, the price of $130 per thousand cubic meters of gas “raises many questions regarding the formula by which it was determined.” “Is this a price that is taken out of the blue, or is it a price in accordance with the European formula? - he asked the audience. -- Either it is calculated by multiplying the old price by delta price indices for three or four leading energy components, or it is relative. If it is taken relatively, I think this is the biggest miscalculation in the debate." Although it is clear that the price has increased exactly as much as the purchase cost of Central Asian gas for RUE has increased.

Alexey GRIVACHS