Ukraine gave Russia one last chance Thursday to resolve their second major gas dispute in three years as President Dmitry Medvedev blamed Kiev for behaving unreasonably.
Ukraine
gave
Russia
one
last chance Thursday to resolve their second major gas dispute in three years
as President Dmitry Medvedev blamed
Kiev
for
behaving unreasonably.
Energy-dependent
Ukraine
has
been pressuring
Russia
to
revise the terms of a contract which
Kiev
signed after having its winter supplies cut off in 2009--a controversial
Kremlin move that also affected parts of
Europe
.
But Medvedev has set tough conditions which include
Ukraine
giving up its European ambitions by joining a Russian-led customs union and
also ceding half of its state energy company to the Kremlin-run gas firm OAO
Gazprom (GAZP.RS).
A senior Ukrainian official has warned that Kiev would take Moscow to court if
the dispute were not resolved by mid-October and Prime Minister Mykola Azarov
reaffirmed that message Thursday by issuing a latent ultimatum.
"We will make one more attempt to agree with our Russian colleagues. We
will try one more time to find an agreement," Azarov said in a speech at
the National University of Kiev.
"If this fails, then without doubt, the entire responsibility for the
consequences will lie with those leaders who refuse to listen to our
arguments," said Azarov in a clear reference to Russian officials.
Ukraine
imports most of its energy from its eastern neighbor and Wednesday vowed to
purchase one-third less gas from
Russia
next
year than it 2011.
Russia
has
responded by threatening to sue
Ukraine
over
breach of contract.
The escalation comes at a sensitive political time for
Ukraine
and
coincides with the trial of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko--the
opposition leader who signed the gas deal and later lost an election to
President Viktor Yanukovych.
She is currently detained and on trial on charges of abusing her powers to sign
the gas agreement, while Azarov has accused Tymoshenko of selling out
Ukraine
's
interests to
Russia
.
The row has already resulted in one round of failed talks between Medvedev and
Yanukovych and the Kremlin chief adopted a tough stance when asked about
Ukraine
on
Wednesday evening.
"They are seeking non-stop indulgence," Medvedev told reporters in
one of his harshest attacks on
Russia
's
neighbor.
Medvedev said the offer he has made Ukraine--lower prices in exchange for
joining a regional customs union as well as the partial sale to Russia of its
state energy company--was non-negotiable.
"It seems to me that we have made a clear proposal: if you want gas at a
lower price, you must be part of the common area (union)," Medvedev said.
"If you do not want that, make us a commercial proposal that is advantageous
to
Russia
,"
he added in reference to the Ukrainian state energy company.
Azarov responded Thursday by saying that
Ukraine
planned to list shares of its state gas company Naftogaz on the stock market
instead.
"According to our estimates, we get a serious investment from this--$5-10
billion," Interfax quoted Azarov as saying.
Russia
--the
world's largest energy producer and supplier of about a quarter of
Europe
's
natural gas--has come under pressure from both governments and companies to
revise how it sets the terms of its deals.
But Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko insisted
Russia
was
only implementing "fair price" agreement and not trying to put
economic pressure on
Ukraine
.
"There are no grounds for us having a conflict like the one we had in
2009. What we are having is a squabble over the fair price of gas,"
Interfax quoted Shmatko as saying.
"We rule out the possibility of a harsh scenario that interrupts the
transit of gas," Shmatko added.
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