[A-List] European Gas Crisis Ordered By US: Sources

[Tony B.]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Rick Rozoff
To: stopnato at yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 8:29 AM
Subject: [stopnato] European Gas Crisis Ordered By US: Sources


http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=13473253&PageNum=0

Itar-Tass
January 14, 2009

Gas war between Moscow and Kiev flares up again

-Gazprom has made some hints that the Untied States
may be indirectly involved in the conflict. Some media
claim Kiev would be prepared to put its gas pipeline
system under US control.
Alexander Medvedev speculated that Ukraine's actions
are 'orchestrated" from another country.
One has the impression that all this cheap
vaudeville-like show is being conducted from another
country," he said, making an allusion to the charter
of strategic partnership Ukraine and the United States
had signed in December.
-Kiev has the intention of giving its gas pipeline
system away to the United States, Izvestia says with
reference to the strategic partnership charter
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vladimir Ogryzko and US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice inked last
December.

MOSCOW - Just several days ago it seemed the gas war
between Russia and Ukraine was past its climax. Sheer
illusion. Tuesday saw another flare-up of the
conflict.

Snowclad and frostbitten Europe, tired of acrimonious
exchanges between Moscow and Kiev, is in no mood of
being a hostage of twists and turns in their
relations. The row cuts both ways and its effects will
certainly harm both Kiev and Moscow, analysts say.

When Gazprom reopened traffic, Russian gas addressed
to the freezing Balkan countries crossed the Ukrainian
border only to run against a shut valve. Ukraine
offered some very clumsy and confusing explanations.
President Viktor Yushchenko claimed that Ukraine had
never stopped transit supplies to Europe, while
Naftogaz Ukrainy declared that the gas taps remained
shut because the terms of transit were unacceptable.

On Tuesday, 76 million cubic meters was pumped into
the pipeline - an amount big enough to meet the demand
of some East European countries, including Bulgaria,
Moldova and Macedonia, where the gas shortages were
the worst. However, no fuel reached them in the end.

Gazprom had no option other than to warn its European
partners of force majeure circumstances, which
prevented the resumption of transit. Thereby it
disclaimed the responsibility for defaulting on
contractual liabilities.

"Ukraine did not open its pipelines to transit gas. We
cannot ignore the laws of physics. If the system is
closed, we are unable to carry out gas supplies," said
Gazprom's deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev. "The
Ukrainian side cynically told us that their gas
transportation system is re-tuned to domestic
consumption. In a situation like this any gas that
will be pumped into the system will not reach the
European consumes."

Yushchenko is stubborn in his determination to
politicize the problem. He argues that behind it there
is Russia's intention to lay hands on the Ukrainian
gas pipeline system and to stir the political
situation on the eve of the Ukrainian presidential
election.

For its part Gazprom has made some hints that the
Untied States may be indirectly involved in the
conflict. Some media claim Kiev would be prepared to
put its gas pipeline system under US control.

Alexander Medvedev speculated that Ukraine's actions
are 'orchestrated" from another country.

"One has the impression that all this cheap
vaudeville-like show is being conducted from another
country," he said, making an allusion to the charter
of strategic partnership Ukraine and the United States
had signed in December.
.....
The daily Izvestia says the United States' hasty
denial was merely fresh confirmation of Washington's
intention to launch another crusade in defense of
democracy.

"Probably, this is the reason why Kiev is so bold and
in defiance of the agreements concluded and why it
banned EU and Gazprom officials from visiting the
central control room of Naftogaz Ukrainy and its
underground storage facilities," says the daily.

Kiev has the intention of giving its gas pipeline
system away to the United States, Izvestia says with
reference to the strategic partnership charter
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vladimir Ogryzko and US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice inked last
December. According to the document from now on
Washington will help Ukraine upgrade its heavily worn
and aging pipelines.

In the meantime, the international experts the
European Union has delegated, and who had been
expected to act as arbiters in the dispute between
Russia and Ukraine, failed to present a clear
evaluation of the situation on Tuesday. The
representative of the European Commission's
Directorate-General for Energy and Transport, Filip
Cornelis (present at the control room in Kiev), told
the daily Kommersant, he and his colleagues knew all
the details but were not in the position to comment on
the situation.

Europe remains undecided as to who is to blame for the
absence of gas, or what line of action to take.

"We would not like to judge at this point who is to
blame for this situation," the Czech Republic Industry
and Trade Ministry's spokesman, Tomas Bartovsky, told
the daily Vedomosti.

Irrespective of who will be recognized as the culprit
in the Russian-Ukrainian gas conflict, its effects
will be negative for Moscow, says Vedomosti. The EU
will inevitably reconsider its strategy in favor of
easing its dependence on Russia.

The EU energy ministers met in session on Monday to
discuss ways of diversifying delivery routes and
sources of fuel, as well as the development of the gas
pipeline system inside the EU.

Aggressive investments into easing the dependence on
Russian gas might prove Europe's response to the
latest developments, says Pierre Noel, of the
Electricity Policy Research Group at the University of
Cambridge.

However, one should not overestimate Europe's chances
of diversifying gas supplies, says Valery Nesterov, of
the Troika Dialog investment company.

In the worst case the conflict will prevent Gazprom
from building up its share in the European gas market
from 26 percent to 33 percent.

The ongoing gas war is revolving not around the price
of gas or transit tariffs, says the chief of the
analysis department at the Political Technologies
Center, Tatyana Stanovaya. The unsettled political
relations between Russia and Ukraine are the root
cause, and as long as they remain what they are, the
gas problems will persist, says the analyst on the
Politcom.ru web site.

Moscow needs totally different assets, be it access to
the internal consumers through mediators or control of
Ukraine's gas pipeline system. As long as Kiev follows
the course of complete independence from Moscow, the
Kremlin will be pressing for free market relations.

At the same time the current situation is very
special, says the political scientist. Firstly, the
political crisis in Ukraine has exacerbated. In a
sense, there is nobody in Ukraine for the Kremlin to
do business with.

Lastly, the ongoing crisis is far less politicized
from the standpoint of Russia-Europe relations.

The gas turmoil of 2006 triggered a cooling between
Russia and the EU. This time Brussels has taken a far
more pragmatic attitude to the problem. It has
refrained from criticizing the Kremlin in public.
Also, it has furnished no moral support for Kiev. What
Europe really needs is gas, and the sooner, the
better.


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