Vladimir Putin and Viktor Yushchenko have agreed to stop the next cycle in the “gas war” between Russia and Ukraine. Kiev will repay its debts, Moscow will not raise gas prices to European levels, and a plan for supplying gas has been developed to make it as transparent as possible
Ukraine’s disconnection from Russian gas supplies has been postponed four times. To begin with, Gazprom’s official representative, Sergey Kupriyanov, said last Friday that the “gas tap” would be turned off on Monday, then the deadline was extended to 10 am on Tuesday, then for another 8 hours, and just before the start of the talks between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents it was announced that the deadline had been moved to Wednesday morning.
However, few could seriously expect Vladimir Putin to publicly humiliate Viktor Yushchenko and present him with the fait accompli of halting Ukraine’s gas supply. All the requirements of politesse during the visit of the Ukrainian leader have been fully complied with - media reports about the talks primarily covered the discussion of global issues. The expansion of strategic cooperation and the mutual intention to strengthen trade and economic ties underlined a desire to resolve all the issues mindful of the interests of the other side; against this background, the gas controversy seemed a trivial detail introduced by external forces trying to destroy the idyll of brotherly Slavic peoples.
It is possible that this is true. Ultimately, Ukraine’s imminent accession to the WTO and its insistent desire for integration into NATO are far more important than any one and a half billion dollar debt for Russian gas.
At a press conference after the talks in the Kremlin, Viktor Yushchenko said that from Thursday Ukraine would begin to repay the debt accumulated in November-December of last year. With regards to this year’s supply, the base price of 179 dollars per thousand cubic meters remains unchanged.
The Russian president has confirmed that the proposals made by Ukraine suit Gazprom. The head of state stressed that “we are extremely keen on our cooperation being absolutely transparent.”
Putin left the remaining trivial details for his officials to sort out. The state company Naftogaz Ukrainy and Russia’s Gazprom have agreed to establish a group that will work on implementing the presidents’ plans. The Ukrainian president has made Yulia Timoshenko personally responsible for achieving gas agreements with Russia.
Ali Aliyev
Photo: AP
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