Happy ending: gas talks set to start
The Ukraine-Russia gas talks registered a noticeable shift on Dec. 8, and we were persistently warned about this for some time. Lately, optimism and a great deal of confidence have become the predominant mental characteristics of high-ranking Ukrainian bureaucrats. Late last week Ukrainian Energy and Fuel Minister Ivan Plachkov, replying to a question from The Day, stated in no uncertain words that the documents relating to Russian gas transit across Ukraine, as well as those concerning the price Ukraine would pay for Russian gas, will be signed no later than Dec. 15. “A compromise is possible only within the framework of Ukraine’s national interests and its energy safety,” agrees Naftohaz Ukrainy chairman Oleksiy Ivchenko, who says that a compromise will be found, but he declined to mention a timeframe.
“Ukraine has been honoring and will continue to honor all terms and conditions of the agreements signed by both sides, including guarantees of Russian gas transit to Europe,” the deputy fuel and energy minister stated for the umpteenth time. “If anyone wishes to aggravate [the situation — Ed.], it just won’t work. There will be no problems with gas supplies to Ukraine and Europe,” Ivchenko assured, adding that Ukraine will not yield to Russia’s pressure with regard to the gas issue. “We propose to uphold the terms of the earlier signed agreements,” said Ivchenko conclusively, adding: “There will be a happy ending for Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s Gazprom issued a statement on Tuesday, Dec. 6, accusing Ukraine of torpedoing yet another round of gas talks in Moscow (held Monday and Friday). The document reads that what happened was contrary to “statements made by the top leadership of Ukraine, to the effect that the problem of Russian gas supplies and transit will be solved by applying market principles...Instead, Gazprom has been asked to preserve the preferential conditions of Russian gas supplies to Ukraine, and citing a valid intergovernmental agreement, a switch to cash settlements using market prices and gas transit rates has been declared impossible.” The statement also substantiates Russia’s demand for gas prices payable by Ukraine to be revised, citing an intergovernmental agreement signed in October 2001, effective until 2013.
That same day Naftohaz Ukrainy informed The Day that these intergovernmental agreements define only the general terms of cooperation between the two gas entities, whereas the specifics are governed by the signed contract. Addenda to this contract, signed in August 2004 and valid until 2009, establish fixed Russian gas transit prices at $1.09 per 1,000 m 3 of gas per 100 kilometer, which cannot be altered by the contracting parties; the fixed price of Russian natural gas provided as transit payment is $50 per 1,000 m 3 , and the parties cannot alter it in any way either.
This situation is a case of a scythe hitting a rock. Then Ukraine pulled out its “secret weapon.” President Yushchenko had a telephone conversation with President Putin on Tuesday night, after firing the Ukrainian ambassador to Moscow, Mykola Biloblotsky. Ukrainian Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn held top-level talks in parliament. Andriy Kliuiev, a deputy prime minister in Viktor Yanukovych’s government and chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Fuel and the Energy Complex, had been responsible for gas matters. No gas documents were signed at the time, of course, but both sides must have come very close to a compromise. Immediately after arriving in Kyiv, Kliuyev’s press secretary, Anna Tymchenko, informed The Day that the Ukrainian side offered a new proposal that will get the parties out of deadlock. Seventeen out of the 25 m 3 of gas Ukraine must receive in return for transit will be valued at the old prices — $80-82 per cubic meter of gas. Russia will have to pay the old prices for gas pumped through Ukrainian pipelines during the entire year. Tymchenko said that the Russian side realizes that Ukraine’s industrial capacities will not be able to cope with Gazprom’s boosted prices. She added that Gazprom’s deputy head Ryazanov, who took part in the talks, was favorably disposed toward the Ukrainian proposals.
What does this mean for Ukraine — victory or defeat? After all, we are opposed to all changes to gas prices in principle. I think that we should not phrase the question this way. It seems that common sense is beginning to gain the upper hand.
Newspaper output №:
№40, (2005)Section
Economy