The Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz was required to transfer $1.95 billion to Gazprom’s account for gas supplies by the morning of June 16th. However, the Russian company received no money, so an arrangement of prepayment for gas supplies was launched for Ukraine. At the moment the country cannot receive Russian gas before paying for it.
On Friday Ukrainian prime minister Yatsenyuk ordered the energy sector to switch over to functioning without Russian gas. The head of the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, Yuri Prodan, confirmed readiness to live without Russian gas. Kiev didn’t agree to the offered price, even though it was decreased to $385.Opinions of Ukrainian political scientists about Kiev’s rejection vary. Alexei Poltorakov is sure that the event is part of a long-term plan of the new Ukrainian authorities on de-politicization of foreign economic ties, while Sergei Slobodchuk stressed that the Kiev authorities are not making any plans for the future, as they are not the main participants in the political processes over Ukraine.“Ukraine has no short-term plan, as the government is running out of time, but they have a long-term plan: a shift to transparent diversified schemes of gas import and consumption, optimizations of internal gas schemes, and turning to alternative power sources, “green” technologies, and so on,” Alexei Poltorakov explained.“The Ukrainian authorities have no long-term plans, as this contradicts the tradition of having no plans at all of the Ukrainian political elite,” Sergei Slobodchuk thinks. “Moreover, we cannot say that Kiev rejected Moscow’s gas. I think such a step is part of the bargaining, putting pressure on the Russian side, as Kiev is interested in a decrease in the official gas price. I think this is the point,” he noted.According to Slobodchuk, the inability of Kiev to settle the gas issue makes the EU and Russia the decision-makers.
On Friday Ukrainian prime minister Yatsenyuk ordered the energy sector to switch over to functioning without Russian gas. The head of the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, Yuri Prodan, confirmed readiness to live without Russian gas. Kiev didn’t agree to the offered price, even though it was decreased to $385.
Opinions of Ukrainian political scientists about Kiev’s rejection vary. Alexei Poltorakov is sure that the event is part of a long-term plan of the new Ukrainian authorities on de-politicization of foreign economic ties, while Sergei Slobodchuk stressed that the Kiev authorities are not making any plans for the future, as they are not the main participants in the political processes over Ukraine.
“Ukraine has no short-term plan, as the government is running out of time, but they have a long-term plan: a shift to transparent diversified schemes of gas import and consumption, optimizations of internal gas schemes, and turning to alternative power sources, “green” technologies, and so on,” Alexei Poltorakov explained.
“The Ukrainian authorities have no long-term plans, as this contradicts the tradition of having no plans at all of the Ukrainian political elite,” Sergei Slobodchuk thinks. “Moreover, we cannot say that Kiev rejected Moscow’s gas. I think such a step is part of the bargaining, putting pressure on the Russian side, as Kiev is interested in a decrease in the official gas price. I think this is the point,” he noted.
According to Slobodchuk, the inability of Kiev to settle the gas issue makes the EU and Russia the decision-makers.
