“Gazeta”: “Yalta sets European winter temperatures”
Vladimir Putin and Yulia Tymoshenko promised to rule out the gas issue.
Vladimir Putin met with his counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko in the Livadia Palace in Yalta late on Thursday. The main question that all of Europe is concerned about this holiday season is gas agreements between Russia and Ukraine. Unless they are fixed, Europe, especially its Eastern part, may freeze in winter.
The final results of the talks between the prime ministers were revealed after this issue of Gazeta went to press. Vladimir Putin arrived in Ukraine late in the evening and the negotiations lasted for several hours. It is notable that Yulia Tymoshenko had been waiting for Vladimir Putin in the palace for just as long as the journalists had, since 3:00 pm local time. The negotiations started at 8:00 pm. Yulia Tymoshenko arrived at the meeting in total secrecy. The road from Simferopol airport to Yalta was lined with activists holding banners "Tymoshenko is Russia's enemy," "Yulia, stop cheating on Putin," "Yes to Putin and Russia!"
Meanwhile, a weird scenario took place in the internet just a few hours before the meeting. Viktor Yushchenko posted a letter to Dmitry Medvedev on gas relations of the two states. Yushchenko insisted they should be changed for the benefit of Ukraine and claimed that otherwise "Ukrainian state company (Naftogaz Ukraine - Gazeta) will not have the resources to prepare for the next heating season, which poses a potential threat to the reliability of gas supplies to Ukraine and its transit to other European countries."
Yushchenko believes the gas price formula for Ukraine must be updated to establish "economically based" prices, symmetrical liabilities for both countries and supply the existing contracts with the addendum on non-application of the penalties for non-purchased gas.
The Kremlin's response to Yushchenko's statements was rapid and firm.
"We strongly object to Europe's energy security being dependent on personal ambitions of Ukrainian politicians. Threats of gas transit crisis smack of political blackmailing," Presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko told Interfax. "There is no use in getting to the bottom of the principles of basic gas sales and gas transit conditions because it was not the heads of state who agreed on commercial terms."
To this end, the Presidential aide remarked, "There are intergovernmental mechanisms and firstly it is a matter for Gazprom and Naftogaz." Moreover, Prikhodko was surprised at the online post instead of official channels.
Thus, it was the two prime ministers who had to resolve the main issue of the winter season.
And it seems, resolved successfully. A source in the Russian government informed Gazeta that by October 1, 2009 Ukraine had filled its underground gas storage facilities with 26.5bn cu m of gas. Continuous transit to Europe requires a minimum of 27-28bn cu m. Ukraine intends to reach that level by the end of the year. There are no technical difficulties, which cannot be said about the funding. Vladimir Putin previously stated Ukraine will have to pay $5bn to fill up its gas storages.
Andrei Biryukov
