Gas contracts are so favorable for Russia that Moscow demands from Kyiv the creation of a union or Kyiv's joining the Customs Union in exchange for a review of these contracts, the third president of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko has said.
"They [gas contracts] are so favorable for the Russian side that for their review … the creation of a consortium to manage the Ukrainian gas transportations system or access of Gazprom to the domestic market is not enough. Currently the Russian side in fact demands the creation of a union [in exchange] for the cut in prices for gas, or at least, Ukraine’s joining the Customs Union with Russia," the press service of the Our Ukraine party cited Yushchenko as saying.
Yushchenko noted that according to the contract of January 19, 2009, Ukraine received one of the highest prices for gas with the lowest tariffs for transit, Ukraine is obliged to pay for gas it doesn’t consume, while the Russian side got the right to use drastic sanctions if there are even slight violations by the Ukrainian side.
"Ukraine is paying for the negligence of the government of [former Premier] Yulia Tymoshenko," Yushchenko said.
At the same time he called on the current government not to sell out Ukrainian interests, but to use the achievements obtained during his presidency. In particular, this concerns the fulfillment of the Brussels memorandum with the EU regarding the modernization of the Ukrainian gas transportations system and the development of the Caspian-Black Sea-Baltic Energy Transit Space as a mechanism of control over the civilized transportation of energy sources to Europe.
