Kiev wants to transfer its gas pipelines to the US
By Pavel Arabov
Yesterday, Russian gas still did not reach consumers in Europe. Gazprom did open the valve, but Ukraine was not ready to transit gas and called the move a "provocation." The way events were unfolding looked like a farce. When the flow of gas for freezing consumers in Balkan countries was stopped at the Ukrainian border, the President of Ukraine said that his country did not block the transit. According to Naftogaz, the flow of gas through Ukraine was blocked due to the "unacceptable transit terms."
The real reason is either the poor condition of the Ukrainian pipeline or the continued theft of gas by Ukraine. Most likely, Ukraine has stolen the gas in the pipeline and there is not enough pressure to pump the gas through. The most remarkable fact, however, is that the restoration of the Ukrainian pipeline will be completed by ... Washington. Yesterday, a scandalous document signed by Condoleezza Rice was released that could clarify who was behind the events in Ukraine.
On Monday evening, the "Transit Monitoring Rules" were finally signed by all parties, and it appeared that this time all obstacles to gas transit through Ukraine were removed. European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs was clearly happy with the development; monitors from Europe, Ukraine, and Russia were deployed to the pumping stations along the state borders, and Gazprom head Alexei Miller ordered by phone from Brussels to restore the gas supplies through Ukraine at 10 am the following morning.
At the same time, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko personally called the leaders of the European countries and Russian President Medvedev to assure them Ukraine was ready to receive the gas and that there would be no hindrances for the transit. Residents of Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Macedonia, Slovakia, Moldova, and Greece, the countries most effected by the interruption of gas supply, were touching the heating batteries in their chilly homes in anticipation of gas.
Kiev concealed the empty pipeline
The main question that no one was able to answer was how much time Ukraine would need to pump the gas from the Russian border into Europe. Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said that Ukraine should be able to deliver gas to the European consumers almost momentarily.
"When Gazprom was forced to cut the supplies on January 7, the transit pipelines in Ukrainian territory were filled with Russian gas, and should therefore be under sufficient pressure now to simultaneously receive gas at the Russian border and pump it out at the Ukrainian border with Europe. Hence, as soon as we start pumping gas into Ukraine, they should be able to start pumping it into Europe," he said.
In other words, if Ukraine was not siphoning off gas from the pipeline, then it should be full of gas. However, that is exactly why Gazprom cut supplies in the first place - because Ukraine was constantly using gas intended for the European consumers. Therefore, there are serious doubts about the amount of gas in the pipeline. Kupriyanov openly accused Ukraine of stealing the transit gas, which was supposed to remain in the pipeline. He said his position was based on statements made by the Ukrainian side that they were not able to ensure gas transit due to insufficient volume of gas in the pipeline.
This was implicitly confirmed by Naftogaz of Ukraine. Representatives for the latter said that it will take them 24 hours after resumption of supplies to deliver gas to the Western borders of Ukraine, and 36 hours for delivery to the southern border - precisely the time it takes to fill in a completely empty pipeline.
In other words, the time it would take the gas flow to reach the Western border of Ukraine could indicate whether or not Ukraine has been stealing gas. For the freezing Europeans, this clearly was not the most critical issue; they would have been just as happy to receive gas at 10 pm on Wednesday. For Ukraine, however, it was important not to admit that it had been stealing gas, and hence Kiev decided to put on another "show."
It's not gas, but ‘provocation against Ukraine!'
At around 11 am yesterday, Gazprom started pumping gas into the Ukrainian pipeline from two stations: 76.6 million cubic metres of gas for the Balkan countries and Moldova through the Sudzha pumping station and 22.2 million cubic metres for Slovakia through the Uzhgorod station.
It was like watching a thriller: the measuring devices were showing a gradual increase of pressure in the pipe, from 10 atm to 30 atm, and finally reaching 60 atm. Under this pressure gas was supposed to start flowing into Ukraine. Alas, the pressure continued to grow, but gas was still not moving. When pressure reached the 75 atm level, it became clear that the valve on the Ukrainian side was shut.
Nevertheless, at 11 am Naftogaz of Ukraine spokesman Valentin Zemlyansky said that Ukraine started receiving gas. However, already at 1 pm Naftogaz issued an official statement demanding that the volume of gas and the transit direction are agreed once again. Later, Energy Security Advisor to the President of Ukraine Bohdan Sokolovsky accused Gazprom of submitting a transit order (76.6 million cubic metres of gas) that was not feasible from the outset, and was thus a provocation.
"The Russian statements on the resumption of gas supplies are a clear provocation. Russia is asking Ukraine to implement a technologically impossible task," Sokolovsky said. "If we transit gas via the bypass route suggested by Gazprom, domestic supplies to the Donetsk and Lugansk regions will be interrupted. This is a provocation against Ukraine."
It is not clear, though, why Naftogaz and President Yushchenko were saying the previous day that Ukrainian pipelines are fully ready to transit gas. Is it because they were hoping to put the blame on Russia again?
In the afternoon, Prime Minister Putin called European Commission Chairman Jose Manuel Barroso and let him know that Ukraine was blocking the transit of Russian gas to Europe. Mr Barroso promised to take up the issue with Viktor Yushchenko. At the same time in Kiev, the leader of the Ukrainian Communists, Pyotr Simonenko, told Parliament that the country's pipeline infrastructure was not controlled by the Government.
"Some people are making hysterical statements that Russia is planning to take over the Ukrainian pipeline system. They should know that it has already been taken over by Mr Firtash," said Simonenko.
According to the leader of the Ukrainian Communist Party, the Ukrainian pipeline system, which is allegedly under a takeover threat from Russia, has already been taken under control by the RosUkrEnergo co-owner Dmitry Firtash with the assistance of President Viktor Yushchenko.
"Taking into consideration the level of the assistance extended by the President to RosUkrEnergo and its co-owner Firtash, we can only imagine the size of bribes received by the President's family and the scale of the corruption. The Yushchenko-Firtash family business should be put an end to and subsequently taken up by law enforcement agencies," Simonenko said.
‘Show directed by third country'
Russia and the European Union have long been concerned with the dismal condition of the Ukrainian gas pipelines and are ready to invest in their restoration. Kiev, however, has been avoiding their assistance. Furthermore, as it became known yesterday, Ukrainian pipelines may soon get an overseas owner. Izvestia has obtained the text of the Strategic Partnership Charter between Ukraine and the United States, which was signed in December by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vladimir Ogryzko and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. According to the document, the US will be repairing the worn-out Ukrainian gas pipelines.
Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Gazprom's Board of Directors, has called Kiev's behaviour "unbelievable."
"It appears that this whole show that has been going on in Ukraine is being directed by a third country," he said.
Indeed, tensions in Ukraine may provide a pretext for the US to engage in yet another round of "democracy promotion" in the country. Yesterday's hasty statement by State Department representative Sean McCormack is further proof: Mr McCormack said that any suspicions of US involvement in the gas conflict were "completely groundless".
Washington's role may in fact explain the "boldness" of Kiev, which refused to provide access for the European and Gazprom monitors to the Naftogaz control room or the underground gas storages, despite the documents signed by Ukraine.
What else can be done to get Ukraine to restore the gas transit? Gazprom renewed its gas transit order for Moldova, the Balkan countries, and Slovakia, said Alexei Miller. Furthermore, the Prime Ministers of Slovakia and Bulgaria are arriving in Moscow today to "discuss the situation on the ground" with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Right when Mr Putin was calling his Bulgarian and Slovakian colleagues, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko made his first public comments on the gas conflict of recent weeks. Mr Yushchenko was not very convincing, though; he threatened to charge market prices for gas transit, something that Putin had already said would be acceptable for Russia. He also denied that he had precluded Prime Minister Tymoshenko from travelling to Moscow on December 31 to negotiate a gas deal. The most amazing, however, was his repeated statement that Ukraine had not stolen gas from Russia and that it remained a reliable transit country.