Editor’s Note: This feature separates Ukraine’s friends from its enemies. The Order of Yaroslav the Wise has been given since 1995 for distinguished service to the nation. It is named after the Kyivan Rus leader from 1019-1054, when the medieval empire reached its zenith. The Order of Lenin was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union, whose demise Russian President Vladimir Putin mourns. It is named after Vladimir Lenin, whose corpse still rots on the Kremlin’s Red Square, more than a century after the October Revolution he led.
Ukraine’s Friend of the Week – Jane Francis, the head of the British Antarctic Survey.
This week was a second Christmas for everyone rooting for Ukraine’s scientific community.
Despite decades of poor financing and disregard by authorities, the Ukrainian National Antarctic Center managed to find the money to purchase the James Clark Ross, a 1,700-ton polar exploration ship, from the United Kingdom.
The deal with British Antarctic Survey was signed back in August. And this week, the magnificent vessel finally got moored in the Ukrainian waters for the first time.
Soon, she will get a new name and new equipment and set sail to bring Ukrainian polar explorers to Akademik Vernadsky station, Ukraine’s scientific base in Antarctica.
The British sold the ship for $5 million, having agreed to give Ukraine a 50% discount. According to Ukrainian polar agency head Evgen Dykyj, this was a “giveaway price” for such a vessel, which can also stay in service for 25 more years.
In fact, this was the Ukrainian polar mission’s only major purchase in decades.
Fittingly, this very station in Antarctica was acquired thanks to Britain as well, which sold it to Ukraine for just 1 pound sterling.
So we at the Kyiv Post dub Jane Francis, the head of British Antarctic Survey, Ukraine’s Friend of the Week.
This is our thank you to everyone in the U.K. who had made the James Clark Ross deal possible and helped give a new lease on life to science in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Foe of the Week – Alexander Novak, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister
What a surprise – Russians have completed Nord Stream 2, the grand gas pipeline project, and immediately started weaponizing it.
Europe’s energy market is being shaken and twisted as Russia reduces gas supplies to the region, triggering unprecedented price leaps.
On Oct. 6 alone, natural gas futures at Title Transfer Facility (TTF) hub in The Netherlands surged to their all-time peak of over $1,600.
Meanwhile, winter is coming.
And Russia is pretty clear about this situation: if you want more gas and stable prices, certify Nord Stream 2 and start consuming from it.
This is exactly what Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak asserted on Oct. 6 amid panic in the European markets.
The darkest predictions about Nord Stream 2 and the Kremlin’s growing dominance over Europe’s gas supply are coming true. The thug has been allowed to grow strong enough to intimidate an entire continent.
And lest we forget that we in Ukraine are also at the tip of the spear: the completed pipeline is very likely to strip the country of its gas transit status and therefore nearly $2 billion in annual revenue.
So Novak is our country’s foe of this week – as the personification of Russia’s policy of weaponizing its gas monopoly in Europe.
