Head of the Penta Center for Applied Political Studies Volodymyr Fesenko has said that Russia is using Gazprom's $7 billion claim against Naftogaz Ukraine as a means to exert pressure on Ukraine, but it is not going to start a new gas war.
“There have been reports of the claims, but so far they have no clear official character. The latest press conference by Russian Ambassador [to Ukraine Mikhail] Zurabov suggests that Russia does not want the conflict to escalate,” he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Monday.
The analyst said that there was a lot of speculation about whether the new claim by Gazprom to Naftogaz will end up in a new gas war.
“Now it is clear that Ukraine does not want such war, and Russia is not ready for it,” Fesenko said.
He noted that Zurabov recently confirmed that the parties continue the talks and are trying to reach a compromise, and perhaps even sign a new gas deal.
“I think that it is during this negotiation process the claim to $7 billion appeared. After all, Russia uses all available instruments of pressure on Ukraine,” said the expert.
In his view, Gazprom’s claim to Naftogaz Ukrainy also suggests that Russia wants to emphasize that Ukraine needs to stick to the rules of the 2009 gas supply contract, which sets a mandatory minimum volume for the purchase of Russian gas.
“Russia is using this. However, they do not want to go to court. This actually means that Ukraine also has its arguments and we can fight for our interests,” Fesenko said.
As reported, national JSC Naftogaz Ukrainy recently confirmed reports that it had received a $7 billion claim from Gazprom for gas Ukraine failed to import last year under its 2009 take-or-pay contract terms. The company said it had paid all bills received from Gazprom ahead of the deadlines and in full and had repeatedly notified the Russian company that it planned to reduce its purchases of gas in 2012.
Ukraine cut its natural gas imports 26.5% to 32.939 billion cubic meters (bcm) last year. Almost all the gas was imported from Russia by Naftogaz Ukrainy and Dmytro Firtash’s Cyprus-based OstChem Holding, Ltd. The minimum obligation under the ‘take or pay’ stipulation is 41.6 bcm.
Naftogaz Ukrainy imported 24.9 bcm of Russian gas under its contract with Gazprom last year and about 55 million cubic meters under a contract with Germany’s RWE using a reverse-flow scheme.
