RosUkrGas deemed a “shady” middleman by Tymoshenko wins in Stockholm

Well dear readers, Yulia Tymoshenko and the then government claimed to have rid Ukraine of corrupt gas intermediary RosUkrGas and stated “claims against the Ukrainian government were incorrect, as neither the Cabinet of Ministers nor Naftogaz had agreements with that company.”

It seems a court in Stockholm would disagree and has awarded RosUkrGas an intermediary payment of $197 million in repsect to 2008.  Claims for 2009 and the 11 billion cubic meters of gas currently stored underground which are still to be heard come to $3.5 billion.

As I wrote at the time, this move against RosUkrGas was personally motivated by Ms Tymoshenko’s dislike of Dmytro Firtash and had very little to do with fighting corruption as was claimed.  It was one of  her only moves against corruption in her entire time as Prime Minister……..and seemingly one which she will now loose in the foreign courts…….making her net gains against corruption during 4 years in office……almost zero.

It would seem the Stockholm court would have evidence to make such an award that Ms Tymoshenko states does not exist……very much like evidence she claims exists in other matters but does not produce to courts or media alike with any form of corroboration.

So who is more “shady”……RosUkrGas or Ms Tymoshenko?

Hard to tell when there is no light to cast any shadeows in the first place.

Strangely, I consider her a very capable politician, unfortunatley she is either very badly advised or simply does not take advise.  To have any impact on the public now she is no longer even a RADA member, she must choose her public battles wisely and any accusations must not only have evidence behind them but corroborated evidence at that.

Nordstream begins contruction

Interfax-Ukraine Moscow. April 6 (Interfax) – The laying of the Nord Stream gas pipeline on the floor of the Baltic Sea began on Tuesday.

“Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller reported in a telephone conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today that the laying of Nord Stream in the Baltic Sea had begun. The first pipe of the pipeline had been laid on the seafloor,” Gazprom told journalists on Tuesday.

Miller also informed the president that a ceremony marking the start of the Nord Stream construction would take place near Vyborg, the Leningrad region, on April 9. The ceremony will be attended by high-ranking officials from the countries involved in the project and the European Commission.

“During the telephone conversation, the president confirmed his intention to take part in these ceremonies,” Gazprom said.

 

The first of a series of self-inflicted nails in the coffin of the Ukrainian gas transportation system has been hammered……..and I am not surprised.

Ukraine’s NATO Integration Teams Dissolved

Another two pointless State organs were closed on 6th April when the President dissolved the Ukrainian body created to impliment NATO accession and the body for Euro-Atlantic integration.

Part of his election platform was to keep Ukraine out of NATO which has little public support anyway, and these steps are a movement towards keeping that promise.

“I am convinced that the non-bloc policy is the most adequate and fairest answer to the geo-political situation in which Ukraine finds itself today,” he told a session of the national security and defence committee on Tuesday.

But he was careful not to close off all cooperation with NATO. “Ukraine has to organise cooperation with NATO and cross over from short-term programmes to middle-term ones,” he said.

Bascially Ukraine will continue to work with NATO in certain areas with shared interests such as pirates in and around Somalia, peacekeeping and civil emergencies……..but little else unless there is common interest.

I expect this will be seen by the neo-cons across the water that Ukraine is heading back to Russia and the very few pro NATO Ukrainians as a disaster, however in reality, even when there was the political will to join NATO under former President Yushenko, NATO did not even offer Ukraine a roadmap despite personal pleas from GW Bush.

Quite simply NATO is not ready for Ukraine just as much as Ukraine is not ready for NATO and in times of severe financial difficulty, shedding useless State organs would seem fairly prudent to most people…….after all cooperation with NATO will continue where there is common interest.

It seems as though, whether President Yanukovych wanted to or not, a path along the neutral route is all that is open to Ukraine.  It is also a path which not only will keep most of the population happy, but most of Ukraine’s neighbours as well.

Whether by design or default, it appears this route is the best for everyone at this time.