At an operational meeting of Russian Security Council yesterday there was talk about supplying energy to the south-east of Ukraine. As explained by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, some time ago the Ukrainian structure cut off gas supplies to the territory of the unrecognized republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. Gas in the normal way on the territory of the unrecognized entities is not available, so the Russian Ministry of Energy, along with "Gazprom", on the basis of the relevant gas structures of the unrecognized republics, pursues the possibilities of gas supplies by an alternate route.
"There was always this possibility, and sometimes we even used it," Medvedev admitted. "At the moment, gas is being supplied in the required quantities consumed in the district of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions and on the territory of the unrecognized republics."
With regard to gas supplies to the entire territory of Ukraine, then, according to Medvedev, "we went to Ukrainian consumers on pre-payment, and this payment is more or less made, however the amount of the advance is not so significant as to maintain the gas supply for a long time. If the volume of use which exists today continues in the coming days, the prepayment will end in just three or four days.
Medvedev said that Ukrainian consumers put in a request for a larger volume, but we will act in accordance with the signed contract.
"Whether it is consumers who are on the territory of Ukraine or the individual regions of Ukraine - it is still part of the overall balance of the gas supplied to Ukraine. And we will deliver as long as there is money, including, of course, those volumes that we currently deliver for humanitarian purposes by an alternative route to the DNR and the LNR. The application has increased two and a half times. So either our Ukrainian partners will need to pay for it all, or we, as usual, will have to take difficult decisions," the prime minister said. Meanwhile, the economic situation in Ukraine continues to deteriorate. According to the expert of the International Institute of Humanitarian and Political Studies Vladimir Bruter, the drop in industrial production in January alone was 21%. "This means that the de-industrialization of the Ukrainian economy is happening before our eyes. The economy simply stops, not least because it has no promising expectations," the expert said.
According to him, private companies are reluctant to invest in Ukraine, "private companies will not invest in any industry in Ukraine, simply because, firstly, Ukraine does not have the necessary capacity; secondly, there are no markets and thirdly, the situation in the national economy does not imply that there is a market in the country for the sale of these products. Therefore, we can speak only about objects of high durability and to a very limited extent."
Speaking about the geography of potential investors, Bruter said: "It will not be US investors, only because the American investors have no interest in Ukraine, had nor and there could not be any. It could be European or Russian investors. But Russian investors are unlikely to go to Ukraine anymore, or will go only to a very limited extent. And concerning European investors, they need to be shown prospects, and then maybe some of them will come, but for now this is a very uncertain position, which is unlikely to be resolved within the next six months."
