Russia-Ukraine Gas Deal Comes at Price – Truthdig.
Aid from the International Monetary Fund will enable Ukraine to pay billions in debt to Russia’s primary gas company and allow Ukraine to buy fuel through the winter. But the IMF deal entails major reforms to the country’s energy industry.
The details of those reforms were not disclosed in an article published in the Financial Times on Oct. 30. But it seems safe to assume they would involve regulations that are beneficial to western financial interests.
The Financial Times reported:
Russia has secured an 11th-hour deal to resume gas exports to Ukraine, allaying concerns that Europe would face an energy crisis this winter. Moscow severed gas exports to Kiev in June amid a payment dispute that has been overshadowed by a conflict between Ukraine’s army and pro-Russian militias in the east of the country.
For months, EU-mediated negotiations to restart gas flows have made no progress and European diplomats viewed the end of October as a deadline for a deal. With temperatures in Kiev dropping below freezing, fears have grown that a supply crunch in Ukraine would disrupt energy exports to the rest of Europe.
But after 30 hours of negotiations in Brussels, Moscow signed a deal with Kiev to guarantee supplies until March. “There is now no reason for people in Europe to stay cold this winter,” said José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
