"The only thing that counts for the EU is the resumption of gas supplies" -- Trade Minister Martin Riman of the Czech Republic, which holds the EU presidency."
Looks like Russia got 'em by the balls.
"Russia, Ukraine approve gas deal; Plan will restore service to Europe" by Jim Heintz, Associated Press | January 19, 2009
MOSCOW - Russia and Ukraine plan to sign an agreement today that would restore natural gas deliveries to a freezing Europe, but after weeks of frustration and dashed hopes, the European Union gave the announcement only a lukewarm reception.
Russia cut off gas transmission to Europe via Ukraine on Jan. 7 as a price dispute and a political tussle between Kiev and Moscow escalated. The confrontation deeply shook Europeans' trust in both Russia and Ukraine as reliable energy suppliers and forced more than 15 nations to seek alternative sources of energy.
Amid growing concern about the damage to their countries' reputations, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of Russia and his Ukrainian counterpart, Yulia Tymoshenko, negotiated for 10 hours and announced the framework of an agreement before dawn yesterday.
Officials of Russia's state-run gas monopoly, Gazprom, and its Ukrainian counterpart, Naftogaz, labored yesterday to lay out the precise terms so a deal can be signed today when Tymoshenko returns to Moscow. But even if Russia turns on the taps immediately after the signing, it could take at least another day for the gas to travel hundreds of miles through Ukrainian pipelines to Europe.
"Over the past few days, we have seen several similarly hopeful moments. The only thing that counts for the EU is the resumption of gas supplies," said Trade Minister Martin Riman of the Czech Republic, which holds the EU presidency.
Russia had alleged that Ukraine was siphoning Europe-bound gas. Ukraine disputed this, asserting that Russia was not sending enough "technical gas" - the amount needed to operate the pipelines - to push the rest further west.
Europe gets 20 percent of its gas from Russia via Ukraine, but some countries, including Bulgaria and Slovakia, are totally or largely dependent on Russian gas. The Czech gas company RWE began sending emergency gas supplies yesterday to Slovakia, where more than 1,000 businesses have been crippled by gas rationing....
That's what America is going to get when the Arabs and Chavez cut us off.
*******************
As part of the agreement, Russia won a key provision: Ukraine must pay more for its energy supplies. In the long term, it is not clear how Ukraine will pay for the huge amount of Russian gas needed to run its outdated factories and heating systems.
Ukraine also appeared to have achieved one of its goals: the elimination of a shadowy middleman company through which Gazprom sold gas to Ukraine. The intermediary company, half-owned by Gazprom, has been criticized as an alleged vehicle for siphoning gas profits into the hands of private individuals.
Why is my FIRST THOUGHT the Russian-Israeli Mafia?
--more--"
