Gazprom’s threat to reduce natural gas supplies the day after Ukraine’s elections should not have come as a big surprise. After the Orange Revolution, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin told the Western leaders that his federation will no longer “subsidize” Ukraine, particularly if the country is “Orange.” The country grew a shade more “Orange” after the Sept. 30 vote and Moscow’s displeasure was easily foreseeable.
Ukraine should pay down any debt that was fairly incurred, but Ukrainians deserve a clear explanation concerning its origins, as they will ultimately have to pay for it. In this context the outgoing government led by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, considered by many to be pro-Russian, has some explaining to do. President Viktor Yushchenko was right to stress energy security as a top priority for a new coalition and government. In this context, all shady dealings in Ukraine’s natural gas relations with its neighbors should be done away with once and for all.
Ukrainians have felt the effects of slowdowns in natural gas deliveries in the past and Moscow is ultimately doing a disservice to relations between “two brotherly peoples” by its heavy-handed methods. Full transparency in Ukraine’s energy dealings is the ultimate solution. The sooner energy relations between Ukraine and Russia are depoliticized and constructed around market principles and prices, the better.
The new Ukrainian government should be steadfast in its course to secure the most reasonable prices for natural gas supply, storage and transit. The government should be merciless in doing away with moneymaking schemes that take money out of taxpayers’ pockets, and provide the public with full information on the state of energy relations with Russia in a timely manner to avoid surprises, like the one delivered by Gazprom on Oct. 1, in the future.
