Translated material
Greetings from Tymoshenko
BYuT leader criticized agreements with Gazprom
Today the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is scheduled to vote on the candidacy of a new prime minister . The leader of the BYuT faction, Yulia Tymoshenko, who is the same candidate, said yesterday that after the formation of a new cabinet of ministers, she hopes to resume negotiations with Russia on the price of gas. “I believe that immediately after the formation of a new professional democratic government, we have a chance to start a new constructive conversation with our Russian colleagues, which will eliminate the presence of intermediaries in energy relations between Ukraine and Russia,” Ms. Tymoshenko said in her commentary. According to her, setting the gas price for Ukraine at $179.5 per thousand cubic meters “indicates the complete and absolute failure of both the energy policy of the Yanukovych government in particular and the entire policy of this government in general.” This means that a New Year’s gas war with Kiev is still very likely. As the Vremya Novostei newspaper has already reported, Gazprom employees responsible for working with Ukraine were warned back in November not to plan to leave Moscow for the New Year. And after the conclusion of agreements on the price of future supplies, no one canceled this order.On Tuesday, the head of Gazprom Alexey Miller and the Minister of Fuel and Energy of Ukraine Yuriy Boyko hastily agreed on the price of imported gas supplies for Ukrainian needs next year, as well as the rate for the transit of Russian gas to Europe through the territory of Ukraine . The price level was predictable after Gazprom agreed to increase the purchase price of gas in Turkmenistan from $100 to $140 on average in 2008.
Yesterday, the necessary additions to the contracts were signed between Gazprom and RosUkrEnergo (delivers Central Asian gas to the border of Ukraine), as well as between RUE and UkrGazEnergo (imports raw materials for subsequent sale on the domestic market). “The agreements reached yesterday on the price of gas for Ukraine, as well as on the terms of its transit, create additional guarantees for the stability of Russian gas supplies to European consumers and are a logical, mutually beneficial step aimed at creating transparent market relations in the gas sector between Russia and Ukraine,” he commented situation, the head of Gazprom Alexey Miller.
Mr. Boyko, in turn, emphasized that the price for natural gas agreed upon by the parties is “comfortable for Ukraine, given the fierce competition in global energy markets.”
However, Yulia Tymoshenko thinks differently. “We remember how Yanukovych and his party went to the elections under the slogans of cheap gas from Russia, and as a result we received one of the highest prices in Eastern Europe,” the BYuT leader noted, although this is outright untrue. In the post-Soviet space, only Belarus and Armenia will receive cheaper gas from Gazprom. And in neighboring EU countries, Russian gas will cost $300.
The gas supply scheme with the participation of intermediaries, and the intermediary itself, RosUkrEnergo, was subjected to traditional attacks from Ms. Tymoshenko. “As we see, the businessmen from the Yanukovych government, after “difficult and exhausting negotiations,” were still able to convince the Gazprom management to throw us another twenty dollars. Obviously, these twenty dollars will end up in the bottomless pockets of the leaders of the RosUkrEnergo company,” the BYuT head sneers, forgetting that since the price of 160 dollars was discussed, the Turkmen price has risen sharply.
But she remembers well that the chairman of the board of directors of the Russian Gazprom, Dmitry Medvedev, at the beginning of October expressed his readiness to eliminate RUE from relations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. “That is, Russia does not need RosUkrEnergo,” said the BYuT leader. And obviously, he plans to build a negotiating position with Moscow on this platform if his candidacy for the post of prime minister is approved.
President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko, who at the stage of preparation of negotiations with Gazprom showed remarkable activity, emphasizing that it was he who gave the directive for negotiations, was silent yesterday on the gas topic. The head of the Presidential Secretariat, Alexander Chaly, only said that until the official report from the Ukrainian delegation is received, he will not assess the results of the gas negotiations in Moscow. And he expressed hope that the report would be provided in the next day or two.