No winners in 'gas war' between Russia and Ukraine
Experts maintain that the gas conflict was not as advantageous for Ukraine as Yulia Tymoshenko described it. Russia also risks to lose customers in the future. The 'gas war' is over, after Russia and Ukraine have managed to reach a deal. However, the both countries have ended up losing, Sergei Sidorenko, a political commentator with the Ukrainian edition of newspaper Kommersant, said in an interview with the European Radio for Belarus.
“I would say that Ukraine has lost in the first place (just like Russia), because the contracts were signed on the conditions that were not so advantegeous for Ukraine.
In the first year, we will be getting gas with the 20 percent discount. Afterwards, we will be paying 10-20 percent more than the neighboring European countries. It means that the profit Yulia Tymoshenko is talking about is doubtful. I would not say so confidently that this contract is useful and advantageous for Ukraine.
Naturally, Russia has lost strategially in the sense that next year the European Union will be buying less gas. The European Union got convinced that other ways of energy supplies should be looked for”.
Dmitry Butrin, the economic editor at Kommersant newspaper, on the opposite, reckons that the both countries have won economically, because the fixed lower gas tariffs, prposed initially, undermines the competitive ability of the country's economy.
But, politically, Russia and Ukraine have ended up losing, because they spoilt their reputation.
“Europe has realized that Ukraine is a transit country with the unreliable supply infrastructure and that Naftogas company is managed by political factors instead of commerce.
Surely, this is also about the loss of the image and the significant problems with the future contracts; the rise in the cost of insurances for any transactions with Ukraine. Gazprom has not lost less. The consolidated opinion of all the European consumers can approximately be described as follows: a global company like Gazprom cannot afford ending up in a situation when it has to halt gas supplies.
This company should have a sufficient range of political, economic, cultural and any other levers in order to prevent such a situation”.
In the view of Baturin, Russia, Ukraine and the European Union will experience the consequences of this gas conflict in various fields throughout the whole year.
Photo: censor.net.ua
“I would say that Ukraine has lost in the first place (just like Russia), because the contracts were signed on the conditions that were not so advantegeous for Ukraine.
In the first year, we will be getting gas with the 20 percent discount. Afterwards, we will be paying 10-20 percent more than the neighboring European countries. It means that the profit Yulia Tymoshenko is talking about is doubtful. I would not say so confidently that this contract is useful and advantageous for Ukraine.
Naturally, Russia has lost strategially in the sense that next year the European Union will be buying less gas. The European Union got convinced that other ways of energy supplies should be looked for”.
Dmitry Butrin, the economic editor at Kommersant newspaper, on the opposite, reckons that the both countries have won economically, because the fixed lower gas tariffs, prposed initially, undermines the competitive ability of the country's economy.
But, politically, Russia and Ukraine have ended up losing, because they spoilt their reputation.
“Europe has realized that Ukraine is a transit country with the unreliable supply infrastructure and that Naftogas company is managed by political factors instead of commerce.
Surely, this is also about the loss of the image and the significant problems with the future contracts; the rise in the cost of insurances for any transactions with Ukraine. Gazprom has not lost less. The consolidated opinion of all the European consumers can approximately be described as follows: a global company like Gazprom cannot afford ending up in a situation when it has to halt gas supplies.
This company should have a sufficient range of political, economic, cultural and any other levers in order to prevent such a situation”.
In the view of Baturin, Russia, Ukraine and the European Union will experience the consequences of this gas conflict in various fields throughout the whole year.
Photo: censor.net.ua
