WEAPONS FOR GAS DEBTS

Journalists were gathered on the occasion of a memorandum of cooperation between the Ministry of Defense and the Naftohaz Ukrayiny National Joint Stock Company represented by Mr. Bakai and Minister of Defense Oleksandr Kuzmuk. The two sides agreed to promote mutually-advantageous cooperation in the economic and social spheres. But now generals and businesspeople are also united by common objectives on the foreign political stage: the struggle for the settlement of Kyiv's energy debts to Moscow and Ashgabat.

According to Mr. Bakai, Moscow and Kyiv have at last come to terms on the price of strategic bombers Ukraine wants to hand over to Russia as payment of debts now totaling $1,000,800,000. As is known, out of 40 Ukrainian heavy bombers, Moscow wants to acquire eight Tu-160s and two Tu-95s. The price of one aircraft has been oscillating from $25 to 75 million. Mr. Bakai himself did not name the final figure, saying only, «We have made a deal at the prices that existed seven years ago.»

However, Kyiv also has another energy creditor who will receive debt payments in the form of military hardware, Turkmenistan. Ironically, the history of Ukrainian natural gas debts to Turkmenistan began in 1993-1994, when the market of Turkmenian gas supplies was dominated by the Respublika Gas Company managed by today's chairman of Naftohaz Ukrayiny Ihor Bakai. The debts, later restructured, are still being paid off from Ukraine's budget. But these are not all the debts. Ukraine has managed to pay only a tenth of $320 million it owes for 9 billion cubic meters of gas delivered this year.

As to the expected supplies of military equipment to Turkmenistan, Mr. Bakai told The Day , «We have already determined the range of items, and prices for them are now being specified by Ukrspetseksport.» Minister of Defense Oleksandr Kuzmuk said nothing about this «range,» only stating categorically, «I say again and perhaps for the last time: the Ministry of Defense does not trade in weapons or its combat readiness. Please address these questions to the Ukrspetseksport National Company which gets the orders. Only then do they write to us whether or not they can do something. Only if allowed will they do something.»

It is not ruled out that the Defense Ministry was in fact forced to resort to this equipment-gas barter. For since 1993, the military has been implementing what is for the ministry a more promising plan. In exchange for gas supplies, 700 cadets from Turkmenistan have been trained at the ground, air, and naval force academies in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Sevastopol. However, in February, the Turkmen servicemen quit the Ukrainian military academies without explanation and went home. After this, Kyiv had no options but to open the doors of its arsenals.