VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Gas transit via Ukraine did not resume yesterday; mutual recriminations between Russia and Ukraine continue. The parties to the conflict are preparing to go to court while anti-Ukrainian sentiments are mounting among the victims.
The United States has slashed the refinance rate to a historical low - 0%-0.25%, the European financial authorities have cut it to 2.5%, and the Bank of England has approved a 2% rate. Japan, where the refinance rate has been traditionally low, has reduced it to zero, and China is also cutting the rate in an attempt to keep the national economy in the growth zone.
Every Wednesday starting today, Rossiiskaya Gazeta will feature the opinions of the Director of the Centre for Current Politics, Alexei Chesnakov, on the key events and problems of the week.
Director of the Priority National Projects Department Boris Kovalchuk has officially left his post after handing in his resignation. However, the delicate situation surrounding the national projects, which have not made any visible progress, suggests that Mr Kovalchuk's resignation gives him a chance to move to another job without disgrace.
The key events of 2008 - presidential elections, coercion of Georgia into peace and the world financial crisis - determined the influence of Russian politicians. Each of the three "waves of influence" strengthened the positions of one of the elites: first the politicians who cast in their lot with the new President, then the defense and security lobby (siloviki) and finally, in the autumn, the economic lobby.
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."
Europe is still freezing. The resumption of Russian gas supplies via Ukraine, announced for yesterday, has not taken place.
Yesterday, the Government's Presidium held its first meeting in 2009. The Presidium approved the cabinet's agenda for the first six months of 2009, discussed a range of current issues, including the gas dispute with Ukraine, and adopted an important decision to set up a state agricultural corporation - a national grain company. It will incorporate not only the state grain producers, but also the largest private grain producers and traders.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has announced Russia's intentions in the current gas conflict with Ukraine. In a Sunday interview with the German television network ARD, Mr Putin advised Europe to lend money to Kiev for payments to Gazprom and soften its position on the construction of alternative pipelines. He expressed Russia's readiness to take part in operating and privatising Ukraine's gas transportation network. However, experts believe that Kiev is not prepared to lose control over this network under any conditions whatsoever.
Russia has announced the end of the gas war with Ukraine, promising to resume gas export to Europe at 10 a.m. Moscow time today. By 16:00 on Wednesday, gas should start flowing out of Ukraine. However, the conflict is far from settled. Gazprom threatens to cut off transit if Ukraine continues to siphon off gas for technical needs. Kiev does not conceal that it would do so.
