Main focus of Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Gas dispute

The gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine over prices and delivery agreements continues. As around 80 percent of Russian gas supplied to the EU member states goes through Ukraine, many fear Russia could turn off the tap. While the EU still treats the conflict as a "trade dispute", the European press detects political motives.

Gazprom slips into a crisis

Cutting off gas supplies to Ukraine sends a worrying message to all Europe, writes the liberal weekly Respekt. "But the current dispute also shows how in the past few months the economic situation has turned against Russia, its head of government Vladimir Putin and the powerful Gazprom company. ... At a time when the entire Russian economy is confronting huge problems, Gazprom too has slipped into a deep crisis. Right up until the end of the year Gazprom had great ambitions for large-scale cooperation and even climbed to third place behind the American giants Exxon Mobile and General Electric. In the meantime its shares have plunged by 75 percent and the company has debts amounting to 50 billion dollars. This is an unprecedented situation. None of the Western energy suppliers has reached the stage where it requires government aid in the current crisis." (06/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Energy, » Ukraine, » Russia, » Europe
All available articles from » Jiří Sobota

As vital as sun and air

Gas reserves in Bulgaria will last just one week if consumption rises and the gas dispute between Moscow and Kiev is not brought to a successful conclusion, according to energy provider Bulgargaz. Dnevnik newspaper writes: "The controversy between Gazprom and Ukraine has brought the deplorable state in Bulgaria to light for the umpteenth time. Twenty years after the fall of communism the state is still as dependent on the Russian gas tap as it was in the days of the Bulgarian-Russian friendship, which [former Bulgarian premier and Comintern general secretary] Georgi Dimitrov called as vital as sun and air. This statement seems prophetic with regard to energy dependency, because even today Bulgaria is clearly the country which is the most dependent on Russia, not only compared with the former socialist states but also to the other Balkan countries." (06/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Economic Policy, » Russia, » Bulgaria

EU seeks to avoid confrontation

The liberal Italian business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore criticises the EU's wait-and-see attitude in the gas dispute. "The days to come will show how clever this strategy is. In view of the cold wave sweeping over Europe it is unavoidable that the problem between Moscow and Kiev should have people worried. ... The bigger countries have proved successful with their attitude of seeing the trial of strength between Russia and Ukraine for the time being as a trade, and not a political, dispute. The Poles and Lithuanians who want to reprimand Russia remain out in the cold. And the decision of the Czech presidency not to convene a top level EU summit (it was merely the 27 countries' deputy ambassadors who met) underlines the fact that people are trying to view the problem as a technical one, to prevent it from escalating into a political confrontation with Moscow." (06/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Economic Policy, » Ukraine, » Russia, » Europe
All available articles from » Enrico Rivio

Gas dispute was long planned

In the business daily Világgazdaság historian and Russia expert Ágnes Gereben writes that the current gas dispute differs from previous conflicts: "In contrast to the Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute three years ago this time Moscow acted neither unexpectedly nor has it used drastic means to start this dispute, but rather carefully planned it. It did seem strange when on November 20 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev publicly ordered Gazprom boss Alexei Miller to immediately collect the billions of dollars owed it by its Ukrainian partner Naftogaz. ... But this huge Russian propaganda campaign which has branded Naftogaz and Ukraine's political elite as untrustworthy, irresponsible and even criminal is driven not only by geopolitical motivations. The price of gas which has been kept artificially low in the former Soviet republics - and in Russia too - simply cannot be maintained." (06/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Energy, » Ukraine, » Russia
All available articles from » Ágnes Gereben

The end of Russia's credibility

The Times writes that Moscow's behaviour in the gas conflict damages Russia's credibility as Europe's energy supplier: "Time and again, Vladimir Putin has used his country's resources to punish or blackmail those former Soviet republics, especially Georgia, that dare to challenge Moscow's hegemony. For all the emollient smiles of Aleksandr Medvedev, the head of Gazprom, as he tours Western capitals, the EU is not fooled by protestations of purely commercial relations. Like the Arabs' oil embargo of 1973, Russia's periodic confrontations have forced the West to seek other sources and types of energy as swiftly as possible. Moscow is naturally not obliged to sell its gas below market price. But turning off the taps turns off not only supplies but trust, reliability and long-term credibility." (06/01/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Energy, » Ukraine, » Russia, » Europe, » Georgian Republic

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