Quotable notes

... Today another form of potential energy tragedy threatens Ukraine - the country's dependence on imported gas and shady contracts. The cutoff of Russian gas in January demonstrated Ukraine's reliance on external supply and its vulnerability to political pressure. The deal Ukraine and Russia negotiated to restore supply does not protect Ukraine's interests or reflect normal market practices. ...

"Ukraine has already fallen into serious arrears under the new agreement with Russia. It is unclear why revenues from gas sales and transit have not covered Ukraine's payment obligations. We can write the scenario now for what will happen in June when the current price deal expires. As it has in other countries, Russia may well seek as payment a 'fire sale' ownership stake in Ukraine's gas system or in major gas-consuming industries, which are the lifeblood of Ukraine's economy.

"If Ukraine's new leadership is committed to acting on the lessons of Chernobyl, it will seek international help to restructure these agreements and will be fully transparent about the supply arrangements. Forestalling a crisis is also in the interests of the EU, United States and Russia. ..."

- Carlos Pascual, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine (2002-2003) and vice-president for foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution, Washington, in the op-ed article "Chernobyl's [sic] lesson" published in WashingtonPost.com on June 2.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 25, 2006, No. 26, Vol. LXXIV

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