The simultaneous visit to Ukraine of Russian Gasprom President Rem Viakhirev and his counterpart from the Lukoil Vagit Alekperov, their meetings in the government and with President Kuchma gave analysts rich food for thought. There is little doubt that Mr. Viakhirev came to collect debts which Gasprom estimates at over $1 billion (the Ukrainian side says it is about $700,000,000). Of course, he did not expect to be paid right then and there and was not averse to make the arrears into long-term bonds. The Cabinet seems to have had the presence of mind not to repeat the sad 1995 experience.
Another thing is surprising. Faced with the financial crisis, the Ukrainian leadership is trying to convince the public that it could treat this creditor without losing face, offering him a long-term cooperation program, thus securing Ukraine against lower Russian gas supplies due to the construction of a pipeline across Belarus. Mr. Viakhirev, however, immediately made a counteroffer: a similar deal on Ukrainian purchases of Russian natural gas. The Ukrainian side had to backtrack a bit. This country is not buying gas now and cannot guarantee to do so any time in the future. The idea of buying gas from Turkmenistan has been forgotten. Kyiv discussed the possibility of increasing Russian gas supplies to Turkey, for which purpose a trilateral joint venture called Gastransit was set up. When gas starts flowing to Europe via Belarus, the “Turkish route” will be Ukraine’s only transit gas pipeline. In addition, the Ukrainian President proposed Mr. Alekperov of Lukoil use Gasprom’s experience when building a pipeline in Ukraine, although here the point is most likely a Russian interest in the Odesa-Brody pipeline. In which case there is every reason to condemn the Ukrainian leadership for shortsightedness and neglecting the national interests. Experts say that once Lukoil gains access to the Southern oil terminal, the project will turn from a multidirectional one into a unidirectional one and only Russian oil will be pumped.






