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Ukraine Won't Pay Russia For Gas, Has Billions In Obligations Due; Europe Promises Aid Money It Doesn't Have
About an hour ago, the head of Russia's top natural gas producer Gazprom said on Wednesday that Ukraine had informed the company it could not pay for February gas deliveries in full, further adding to tensions between Moscow and Kiev. Alexei Miller said Ukraine's total debt to Gazprom for gas deliveries was nearing $2 billion. "Our Ukrainian colleagues informed us that they would not be able to pay in full for February gas deliveries," he told Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As reported by Reuters, Miller added that Ukraine managed to redeem only $10 million on Wednesday from a total debt of $1.529 billion. He said that Ukraine's debt would rise by $440 million on March 7, a deadline for payments. In other words, as of this moment the Ukraine already owes Russia $2 billion, or about double what John Kerry announced to much fanfare, the US would provide the country with in terms of aid. And considering that yesterday Gazprom announed that beginning in April it would end the gas pricing discount to the Ukraine, which lowered the price of gas to $268.5 per 1,000 cubic metres from around $400, this accrual is only set to get bigger with every passing day, and very soon Ukraine may get no Russian gas at all which was and continues to be the biggest leverage Russia has over the country which nuclear power plants provide less than half of its electricity needs.
As a reminder, and as we have pointed out since the start of the Ukraine conflict, Gazprom, which meets 30 percent of Europe's gas demand, shipped 86 billion cubic meters, or over half of its total exports, to the European Union through Ukraine last year. Gazprom already warned Europe may see "fluctuations" in its gas delivieries from Russia.
A Gazprom spokesman said Russian gas transit to Europe via Ukraine was flowing normally. For now.
But gas is only the beginning of Ukraine's problems. As also announced about an hour ago, Ukraine's acting finance minister Oleksander Shlapak reported that the country needs to repay $10 billion by year end and that the country may ask for a debt restructuring. Naturally, absent outside help, no repayment is possible and the country will certainly default, which means someone has to step up and bail out the Ukraine. The only question is where this aid comes from: EU/IMF or Russia.
And that is the €/$64K question. Which is why also earlier today, the European Commission announced that it will provide Ukraine with 11 billion euros ($15 billion) in financial assistance to Ukraine. As reported by RIA, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the aid package was designed to enable “a committed, inclusive and reforms-oriented government in rebuilding a stable and prosperous future for Ukraine.” The European Commission said in a statement that financial support would be provided over a two-year period from the EU budget and EU-based international financial institutions.
There is only one problem with Europe's aid: the money is not only not "there," it is also conditional on individual countries getting approval from their populations, and most of it would come from the IMF, i.e. funded primarily by US taxpayers. As the WSJ summarized, "The EU said it would make at least $15 billion in grants and loans available for Ukraine in the next couple of years, although much of the money has strings attached and would need approval from member states and other institutions."
So basically, it comes down to a matter of timing and payment acceleration: if Russia really wants Ukraine to fold, it will make sure the bill is high enough and the gas shut off looming enough that the only source of funds would be Russia itself, not insolvent Europe. The last thing Putin will want is to give Europe the years it needs to figure out how to honor its bailout commitment (ask Greece). Which is why Medvedev has also announced Russia would be able to provide $2-3 billion immediately to Ukraine... to pay for the gas bill. Naturally, with a few strings attached.
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Doesn't matter...US will start defaulting by CUSIP later this afternoon.
Kiev snipers hired (possibly) by Maidan leaders - leaked EU's Ashton phone tape
http://rt.com/news/ashton-maidan-snipers-estonia-946/ and on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEgJ0oo3OA8
If this can be proven, the Kiev regime will collapse.
isn't this the same play book the US NGO's used in Venezuela and Syria and can be verified by ballistics i would think....... imagine if you would an international community that cared about truth and justice so much that they put the same effort into getting to the bottom of a crime against humanity as they do in convicting a black man in the US of smoking a joint....... yeah i think I should be smoking a joint to even say something so silly as that....
Sorry, but truth and justice are prohibited by law.
If I told my energy supplier that I couldn't pay my February bill, I'm not sure I'd receive much energy in March.
Perhaps I should become Too Big To Pay.
Or, how many different ways can you say...default?
Zoom the camera out a bit. Cutting off people's gas only makes you money if you have alternate customers. This market is not like selling potatoes in the city square. The Saudis will tell you, when you restrict supply in a market with few suppliers and customers that big, you don't always win. In addition, gas is a bit like electricity in that it is difficult to switch buyers due to the infrastructure needed to deliver the product.
Yep and now you know why Syria is so key in this and why the Russians are determined to keep Middle East gas out of the Nabucco from the south. The Russians in this can restrict supply and the EU will be forced to foot the Ukrainian bill to keep their gas flowing. You got a bunch a Neo Nazi NATO attack dog assets running the place who feel entitled to NATO's help and monetary support for their labor working as mercenaries for NATO through the usual mercenary army for hire types like Britam going back to the 90s in nthe Balkans and more recently in Chechnya alongside the Muslims there against the Russians. Even if they had the money they ain't going to pay the bill anyways since NATO owes them now...
You are thinking non scarcity thoughts.
If you just realign your rationale to one of scarcity, different conclusions are reached.
If you have a customer who is not paying you for nat gas and you want to cut them off, but don't think you will find another customer -- this is not a negative. The reason it is not negative is you retain the scarce resource for your own future use.
And nat gas IS electricity. It's not just about heating. 44% of Ukraine electricity comes from natgas.
Read my post on the math, look at the picture, and do your own math, the functions are rather simple, and not what the MAD warmongers makes them out to be.
truth and justice
lol
This won't end well, you know you can make things worse by trying to make them better, who idea was it to send him over there in the first place?
The leaders of Euromaidan hired the snipers who fired on protesters and police in Kiev, according to a leaked phone conversation between Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet and EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, RT reported March 5. Paet said he spoke with a doctor who had treated sniper victims in Kiev and was told that the same gunmen shot both protesters and police.
nothing new I guess
http://www.globalresearch.ca/unknown-snipers-and-western-backed-regime-c...
I'm only waiting til they blame the muslim minority of the Krim tartars
Of course RT would say that
*and at least one member of an EU govt.
I just listened tonthis tape and it sounds authentic. The question becomes who leaked it and why?
The story said the phones were hacked.
Not quite sure what type of phone records conversations, but that is fishy. I doubt in the middle of this kind of crisis that Ukraine would be able to do that.
Now, Russia is another story.
pods
I've been waiting for proof of that conspiracy and I guess I still wait. A doctor's examination of the wounds isn't convincing. Both sides would be using the same firearms (AKs).
What I have seen is video of the police holding AKs AND shooting at eye level toward targets that were not visible in the frame. This is much more believable.
Oh well, keep looking.
I'm tellin' ya, Ukraine, sell your pot to Colorado and washington. You won't need bailouts! You'll have friends in high places (snicker)!
They should just default and be done with it. Why pay the bankers?
All wars are bankers' wars.....including this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hfEBupAeo4
I'm getting excited.....almost half a million hits....that's a lot of useful idiots pulled out of the fire.
Facebook blocked that url link, bastards!
"If we could just make some payments...you'll take a check? Why heck, why didin't you say so? I thought you needed money. Hell, let's just pay the whole thing off right now..." A la Jeff Foxworthy Financial Rope-a-dope. Screw the IMF and Brussels
Because the article says that someone HAS to bail them out. It has to be done or the world will end.
Sell some more farmland to China. Yeah, that's a good idea.
fuck growing food
all that grain was giving them gas
rimshot
Let's send all the gold bugs flocking by millions over there ! Don't they love their neighboors after all ???
As for me , I'm king Midas and come daily here to take my golden dump so I can pay the bill any time !!
How ya doing king?
Find a toilet and spare the rest of us
http://business.financialpost.com/2014/03/05/scotiabank-one-of-5-banks-facing-lawsuit-over-accusations-of-gold-price-manipulation/
Scotiabank one of 5 banks facing lawsuit over accusations of gold price manipulationHang them high......then do it again.
Correct, nothing changes otherwise.
This of course adds to the pre-exising problems of the economy of the Ukraine as discussed below..
It seems to be going from bad to worse....
cant pay wonte pays
We are the 1%! Kiev gives oligarchs top jobshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-uQh6kQ_Qs&feature=youtube_gdata_player
6 of these gentle folks have dual ukraine and israeli passports
the rothschild soros squad
funny old khazar world
http://www.top10zilla.com/top/1751/
I don't doubt it. +1 for investigative journalism. But the more telling and pertinent trend is this: Note the people from which countries and cultures who have climbed the fastest on the American totem-pole (economically and politically).
Jews and Asians (Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Korean).
For $500 name the common denominator for these cultures, compared to the traditional European cultures in America?
A: ??? (Hint: To help you overcome your cultural blind-spot, think of what they are NOT.)
2 billion bucks of gas, extracted and pumped then used ... and not payed for ... that would seriously piss me off.
They sure as hell would not be getting any more.
what about payment in gold?
somebody's gonna have to go back and get a shitload of (gold) dimes !
Yes! German gold! It will take about 7 years...
I have a feeling it's going to be paid in real-politic.
Sorry, already earmarked by the IMF
or bitcoin, fonestar's - he has a big stash, right old boy ?
It will be paid for in land. All those Russian speaking parts of the Ukraine? ... say hello to East Ukraine.
Maybe they ought to consult with the Nigerians on pirating pipelines...
"They sure as hell would not be getting any more."
And HOW are you going to supply the EU when you cut them off?
So far, the smartest suggestions I've seen are those that have the Russians asking to be paid in Gold. Sorry fonestar, sorry Yellen.
http://rt.com/news/ashton-maidan-snipers-estonia-946/
The snipers who shot at protesters and police in Kiev were allegedly hired by Maidan leaders, according to a leaked phone conversation between the EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and Estonian foreign affairs minister, which has emerged online.
“There is now stronger and stronger understanding that behind the snipers, it was not Yanukovich, but it was somebody from the new coalition,” Paet said during the conversation.
“I think we do want to investigate. I mean, I didn’t pick that up, that’s interesting. Gosh,” Ashton answered.
Game on now then.
By investigate she meant we will find a way to cover this up. At least fudge the issue, find ways to discredit the sources.
I especially like the understatement of 'Gosh'.
"Gosh", roughly translated, is euro-aunty for, "Oh shit, they're on to us!"
Golly geez!
We need Gomer Pyle to really say it right! "Shazam shazam shazam!"
Snicker, snicker …. Don’t have the money - can’t pay. Borrow the money to pay but now can’t pay back the lender ….. seriously, no matter how you look at it or how you spin it - it’ll never work. At what point does the world accept that all, everything, is a Ponzi and it can never be paid back
When you just print it and do not have to EARN it its easy....but everyday that piece of paper you earned just becomes one of trillions....and soon it is just a piece of paper
Glad i kept both my gold timex watches. Worth a mint today.
People can't embrace the reality that the horror of QE is that it has revealed that money means nothing.
It's imaginary. It is created at a whim. There is no such thing as Ponzi. There is no such thing as financial fraud. It is not food with calories. It is not oil with joules. It is nothing. In all forms, nothing. It was created by man. It is not real. And sorry gold nazis, that includes gold. Its value exists only in the imagination of two parties in a transaction.
Contrast this with calories in crops. Complete independence of what anyone "thinks". Or joules in oil. They are immune to thought. They exist. They are real.
Later than sooner.
More debt? Throw it on the heap and spin up the presses.
Dual citizen leaders are slackers and deadbeats
At least, Putin might get a prize, which he deserves for preventing the Iran and Syrian fiascos from worsening. http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_03_05/Russias-President-Vladimir-Puti...
Extra borscht on your Nobel pizza prize Vlad ?
It still feels weird to respect & admire Putin more than Obama, Kerry, Holder, etc.
It is amazing that more people don't.
Putin's prize will now be Iranian oil, which he will no longer make any pretense about restricting from his own pipelines for sale to Europe, forcing them to essentially undo their own sanctions. He will mix it with Russian oil, sell it, take a commission, and give money to Iran -- who will then lose what little interest they have in negotiations.
Well, we have Obomber phones...why not give them Obomber gas?!?!?!?
Hold on to your dentures! John Kerry's gumboat diplomacy will come to the rescue.
Don't bite the hand that heats ya. (or that runs your lights & cars).
Demand payment of gas debt in gold.
I'm sure Germany wouldn't mind lending them some.
I swear....I just hit it once.
Since I'm here....maybe Germany could just tell the Fed to ship it direct and cut out the middleman.
Gold has no importance to society.
But the point of refusing paper for gas or oil is a powerful one. Note how Germany handled this with France when they surrendered. Francs? No. Gold? No.
Crops. Slave labor. Things that are real and not based on the imagination of people.
Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, the former and wannabe presidents of the US, say they have accepted more than $13 million from Ukrainian pipemaker Victor Pinchuk since 2006. But Pinchuk’s records show that he’s given the Clinton Foundation only $7.6 million.
http://www.thesilentmajorityus.com/2014/02/there-are-growing-questions-a...
As Pro-European Protests Seize Ukraine, Jewish Oligarch Victor Pinchuk Is a Bridge to the WestOne breezy evening last September, Viktor Pinchuk, Ukraine’s second-richest man, stepped onstage at the Livadia Palace in the Black Sea resort of Yalta to introduce the star speaker of the annual international conference he hosts to promote his country’s ties with the West: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Nearby, at a table set for an exquisite five-course meal, sat her husband; they were joined in the hall by Shimon Peres and Tony Blair, as well as a number of former European heads of state, top diplomats, and business tycoons. “Mr. President, you are really a super star,” Pinchuk told Bill Clinton in a seemingly apologetic tone, “but Secretary Clinton, she is a real, real mega star.”
http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/155976/ukraines-wester...
Clintons, Obama, McCain, Democrats and RINOs all controlled by the NWO, the oligarcahs and Soros. In the Ukraine they just overthrow country and shoot people in the back.
Forget about any US elections because they rig those. The RINOs will win any primary challengers by Tea Party people or conservatives.
.
No question there. The US and EU orchestrated the overthrow of the Ukrainian government after it decided to pass on joining up with them and instead chose to accept a better deal from the Russians. The new Ukrainian "government" and its US and EU backers now have what they wanted. They can pay for it.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that about the same amount included in the deal with the Russians, along with discounts on gas, that the Ukrainian government was forcibly prevented from accepting?
As I remember there was a certain $38 billion required, as of last week.
What happened, did it shrink in the laundering again?
.
It always does.
The snipers who shot at protesters and police in Kiev were allegedly hired by Maidan leaders, according to a leaked phone conversation between the EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and Estonian foreign affairs minister, which has emerged online.
http://rt.com/news/ashton-maidan-snipers-estonia-946/
Sorry, already posted above. Somehow missed it.
this needs repeating.
The source of that post is RT.
RT, as in Russian news.
Not saying yea or nay, only that propaganda is used by ALL sides. Always consider the source and what they may have to gain from acceptance of "News" as "Truth"
thats why they will take krim as payment, seems fair to me
Tired old lies is one thing, not being able to pay is another.
If you want your bankrupt states, you can keep them, we will keep the fucking oil bitchez...
I'm sure the PIIGS and Detroit will be happy to see Ukraine get $10B us for free. [/sarc.]
Might as well build a $10B pile out of $100 notes, spray it with gasoline, and throw a lit match on it.
No problem, the US will export shale gas to Ukraine at US prices. ;)
You do realize the US is a net importer of natural gas?
The reality of today's world summarized :
Oil situation :
http://i.bnet.com/blogs/laherrere_all_liquids_production_1900-2200.jpg
Leading to :
http://iiscn.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/bp-oil-price-2013.jpg
In other words current crisis is primarily a monstruous oil shock, and only the beginning.
Reminder :
Contrary to the legend on the above graph (barrel price), the first oil shock was much more the direct consequence of US 1970 oil production peak :
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/US_Oil_Production_and_Imports_1920_to_2005.png
Associated to the rebalance of barrels revenues between majors and countries, and dropping of B Woods in 71 and associated $ devaluation.
The "embargo" an epiphenomenon, very limited, lasted 3 months, but pratical to hide US peak and "put the blame" on the Arabs.
Geopolitical summary :
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Seal_of_United_States_Central_Command.png/768px-Seal_of_United_States_Central_Command.png
Note : a graph on debts (mountains of debts accumulated since the two first oil shocks to "find back" previous growth level) should be added, which also makes current crisis a double oil shock more than anything else.
And only the beginning of it ...
The big game - China is behind the scene with its new Cleaner Energy Policy, affecting Coal, Gas and Lithium.
China is moving forward with its state-level strategy to secure supply of strategic commodities. You can follow their footsteps everywhere in Copper, Gold and Lithium. http://sufiy.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/copper-m-glencore-sees-no-roadblock-...
Putin to illegitimate Ukraine leader: "put back the democratically elected leadership and I'll cut you some slack on your gas payments - otherwise, interest accrues at 5% per week" - and by the way, next month's bill must be paid in gold - have a nice day - Vlad"
Yesterday PIMCO announced new fund to buy many billions of European bank toxic mortgage assets in order to obtain higher yield for subscribers, including US pension funds. The fund is already oversubscribed. No doubt this will provide European banks with funds to bailout Ukraine. The world financial system has become one gigantic Ponzi scheme. Question is what will trigger a meltdown ? Unfortunately, Ukraine already has some meltdown experience in the nuclear field with a Russian designed facility.
somehow not worth mentioning
http://rt.com/news/ashton-maidan-snipers-estonia-946/
So, it looks like a Maidan "false flag" incident, which of course our gormless Western leaders bought into hook, line and sinker, because it suited their own agenda of getting rid of Yanukovich.
Looks like the Russians will have to deliver the gas for free, since Ukraine can't afford to pay for it. But to insure its delivery, it will have to be delivered by the Russian Army.
It seems the EU and other Western countries have played this game with seriously bad tactics.
By stirring up a revolution against Yanukovich - one arrested participant in the Kiev revolution alleges he saw about 60 Americans (CIA operatives?), 40 Germans and some Turks & Poles actively involved in creating mayhem in Kiev - the West has forced Putin's hand and we now see the consequencs of that.
What did the US, UK & EU hope to gain?? Energy security?? LOL.
Did they think that if Yanukovich was overthrown that Ukraine would turn back to the EU? And the West would then have better control of its gas suppies? LOL.
Whichever way this game plays out, it remains a fact that the source of the gas that transits thru Ukraine is Russia and Putin potentially has his hand on the taps if the West gets really nasty with him. Ukraine is just a transit route to Europe for gas, not the supplier, and takes what it needs for itself. Whoever controls Ukraine, this will remain the case.
The other item on the West's agenda is to open Ukraine's doors to NATO bases, to further ring-fence Russia. Putin obviously knows this and will attempt to prevent it. His occupation of Crimea would mean that if the West were to get into Ukraine, it will be surrounded by Russian military bases on at least two sides.
So maybe we should just cede Crimea to Russia and call the Ukraine debt forgiven?
Hilarious....
RT news?
An Estonian apparatchik?
Wow! You guys really love to lap up this shit....
Putin's man at the MiniTrue is laughing into his sleeve...
Ukraine is on the hook for some serious Vig!
In theory, you can bite the hand that feeds you, However most rational people will think of the consequences of such action before actually doing so.
It seems the Ukrainians haven't acquired the knack of providing for themselves even with years of Russian subsidies. But of course they can't bear to be parted from the Crimea and the inhabitants they love like their own children. It's like heartless social services taking their children because they aren't being fed or clothed properly.
And then there's the EU. They can't wait to become Ukraine's new sugar daddy. Aren't Spain and Greece and Portugal and Italy and France part of the EU? What about the people of those countries and the leaders who took a solemn oath to represent their interests? It's almost like there's no sense of responsibility or practicality. And it's all really, really, in your face obvious.
In Europe they should build bonfires and dance and chant and pray to the sacred totems of nation statehood. Flags, maps, guns. Like their prehistoric ancestors prayed to the animals they hunted, spirits, dead ancestors. So they won't feel so afraid of well everything but especially death. So they won't feel insignificant and meaningless. It's all a big game, a distraction. Everybody knows it at some level.
Ukraine should just blow up a section of pipeline then charge a protection fee to secure the rest.
A Billion a year should cover it.
Perhaps somebody might bail me out when I get my next gas bill......
Would be interesting to know if those existing contracts are denominated in dollars or roubles. If Putin were smart he would insist on all contracts for gas going to Ukraine and Europe being denominated in roubles, as it would put a floor under his currency and strike at the dollar at the same time.
Or gold, of course.