Germany out so far

Still, what primarily hampers Kyiv’s progress in establishing the consortium is the domestic problem of budget fulfillment which can be greatly exacerbated if rash decisions are made. Maybe, there will be an attempt to solve this problem by leasing out the Ukrainian gas mainlines (a law has been drawn up to this effect), thus defending the interests of the budget and, hence, the Ukrainian taxpayers.

Meanwhile, Russia continues to pressure Kyiv — indirectly and gently — into making concessions in her favor. The basic method of “stimulation” are successful negotiations with our neighbors (who are our rivals on the fuel transit market). Essential progress was achieved in January about the transit of Russian gas across Poland, said our current guest V. Khristenko who had conducted talks with Polish Vice- Premier Marek Pol. Negotiations are in progress on supplying gas to Northern Europe by sea, and Russia has already begun to transport its gas to Turkey via the Black Sea. Conversely, the Ukraine-sponsored Gaztransit project (exporting gas to the Balkans) seems to finally “bitten the dust.”

COMMENT

Dietmar Stuedemann, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany to Ukraine, thus commented on the international gas transit consortium situation at the press conference he held on February 7 together with his French counterpart Philippe de Suremain on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty:

“Considering the current situation with the gas transit consortium project, we must say there are two parallel sides of its development: the first is about gas companies and the second about working out the political foundations of the consortium. The project can only be implemented if the parties and business circles show political will and interest, respectively. Presidents Kuchma and Putin and Chancellor Schroeder decided in St. Petersburg to set up a trilateral gas consortium. This should be always viewed as a declared political goal. New political impulses are required today to fulfill the clear-cut decisions made in Petersburg. For instance, it was decided to form a trilateral task force consisting of high-level politicians and entrepreneurs. The first attempt to hold a meeting of this group this month failed, unfortunately, for lack of time. A new date must be fixed. I think the visit of Russian Vice-Premier Khristenko to Ukraine will help the parties agree on the date, which is not an easy thing to do because the task force includes as many as six individuals who must find time for the meeting.

“I do not think we must dramatize the situation, although it will be naturally quite difficult to bring different interests together. Yet, the overriding political objective is clear: this project should only be carried out jointly and to no detriment of any of the parties.”