ANALYSIS: Will Ukraine survive the winter without problems? (09/17/00)

ANALYSIS

Will Ukraine survive the winter without problems?

by Jan Maksymiuk
RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report

President Leonid Kuchma said in Poltava on August 28 that Ukraine "will survive the upcoming winter, just as it did all the preceding ones," Interfax reported. "One should not make a problem out of this," he added.

However, Mr. Kuchma said he "does not understand" Russia's offer to sell gas to Ukraine for $102 per 1,000 cubic meters (RFE/RL Newsline, August 21), noting that Western consumers of Russian gas pay less. Mr. Kuchma also voiced his "surprise" over Russia's intention to set a price for oil products sold to Ukraine at a "somewhat higher level" than the price of those exported to Western Europe and other CIS countries.

Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ivan Pliushch later revealed that there was a disagreement between President Kuchma and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the CIS informal summit in Yalta on August 18. Mr. Plyushch told STB Television on August 24 that Mr. Kuchma reminded Mr. Putin at the summit that it was not Ukraine but Russia that had started a bilateral economic war. President Kuchma, according to Mr. Pliushch, noted that the war will have no winners.

Expressing his own view, Mr. Pliushch added that, if Russia continues to "undermine" Ukraine's economy, Kyiv will have to take some reciprocal steps. According to Mr. Pliushch, Ukraine could increase charges for the deployment of Russian troops on its territory or increase tariffs for the transit of Russian gas "and so forth."

Jan Maksymiuk is the Belarus, Ukraine and Poland specialist on the staff of RFE/RL Newsline.

| Home Page |