April 3 (Euronews) For the second time in three days, Russia
has raised the price of gas for Ukraine, stepping up pressure on an economy
already on the brink of bankruptcy. The head of state-owned energy giant
Gazprom, Alexei Miller, told Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev that 1,000 cubic meters
would now cost $485.
That means that since the start of
the week, the price Moscow is charging Ukraine has nearly doubled. An earlier
increase was announced on Tuesday. In hiking the price, Russia has scrapped two
discounts simultaneously. One was introduced in 2010 when Ukraine agreed to
extend terms for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Crimea until 2042. The second was
agreed in December after Ukraine’s then President Viktor Yanukovych scrapped a
trade deal with the European Union in favour of closer ties to Moscow.
As part of that deal, the Russian
government agreed to scrap gas export duties for Ukraine-bound gas. Earlier
this week, however, the Russian Federation Council, the upper house of the
parliament, voted to annul the agreement on the Black Sea Fleet after Crimea
was annexed by Russia. Ukraine, which has a new International Monetary Fund
loan package to cushion some of the blow, has dismissed the increase as
politically motivated, saying the price was too high and that it should not
have to pay for supplies at this level. But Gazprom has now also said that
Ukraine’s debts for Russian gas now stand at $2.2 billion, up from an earlier
estimate of $1.7 billion. On Thursday, it additionally told Ukraine to increase
the level of gas in storage to ensure its stable transit to Europe.
See video
and read more at
0 comments:
Post a Comment