Ukraine and Russian Federation clash again over gas pricing
A clash over natural gas pricing between Russia and Ukraine escalated on Wednesday with Russian exporter Gazprom announcing it would halt deliveries and Kyiv saying it could find cheaper supply from Europe.
The Russia-Ukraine gas supply dilemma could see a new development as the countries continue political and commercial retaliation, Kallanish Energy learns.
Ukraine’s prime minister says his government has determined to close the airspace of the nation to any or all airplanes that are Russian.
Power lines supplying the region from Ukraine were blown up over the weekend and people are having to rely on handouts.
Ukraine’s NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy received its final prepaid volumes of Russian gas on Wednesday, Alexey Miller, CEO of Gazprom PJSC, said in a statement, warning that the halt could threaten supplies to the rest of Europe during freezing weather. Ukraine is the transit country, this is the transit channel which can be trusted, he said.
Russian Federation denies all involvement in a conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 8,000 people – the majority of them civilians – and plunged Moscow’s relations with the West to a post-Cold War low.
VedomostiOn Monday, Ukrainian gas operator Naftogaz’s Chief Executive Andrei Kobolev announced that Ukraine could buy all the gas needed for the upcoming winter from Europe.
“For the past year and a half, we have shown that we can ensure the uninterrupted transit of Russian gas regardless of whether it comes to us or not and whether it’s in the summer or winter season”.
Moscow has banned the import of most Western food products and many goods from Ukraine in response, and is threatening a complete embargo on food imports from its neighbour should Kyiv join an European Union free trade alliance on January 1. “So, supplies are being stopped until new payments arrive from the Ukrainian company”, he said.
But Yatsenyuk said in the meeting that it was the Ukrainian government that had chose to stop buying Russian gas because the price offers from other European countries were “significantly better” than those from Russia.