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Ukrainians Want Return to Gas Barter
Representatives of the Yulia Timoshenko Bloc, which will receive the economic portfolio in the new government in Ukraine, are preparing to reexamine natural gas supplies from Russia. “Gazprom, the supplier of gas to Ukraine, is a monopolist, and Ukraine, which provides transit services, is also a monopolist. What market are we talking about?” asked Sergey Terekhin, member of the new Supreme Rada and economics minister in Timoshenko's 2005 government.
Terekhin suggests “trading gas for transit services.” Timoshenko Bloc member and Rada Heating and Energy Committee member Mikhail Volynets stated that that will be the country's position in negotiations with Gazprom. Specifically, he said that the country's transit services would be offered in exchange for 30 billion cu. m. of natural gas.
Russia supplied Ukraine with 30 billion cu. m. of gas in exchange for the transit of 120 billion cu. m. until February 2005, when Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko okayed Gazprom's demand that their dealings be based on “market prices.” Gazprom expressed its willingness to discuss gas prices yesterday, but not to return to the barter system. Changes made unilaterally in the agreement are disputable in international arbitration court.
Ukrainian law requires that changes to gas prices be approved by the president, and Ukrainian Minister of Fuel and Energy Yury Boiko began negotiations with Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller yesterday. That does not guarantee that the results of those negotiations will be valid after the new government is formed, however. It is not known whether a price for gas n 2008 is being discussed. Ukrainian Economics Minister Anatoly Kinakh has stated that the Ukrainian economy can withstand a 15-percent price increase, that is, to $115 per 1000 cu. m.
www.kommerant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 23, 2007
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