Statement by the Prime Minister of Ukraine ahead of her visit to Moscow
January 16, 2009 – 7:19 pmOn Saturday I am going to Moscow to try to reach an agreement with Russia on reliable transit of Russian gas to Europe and not least, the reliable supply of gas to Ukraine.
In the current circumstances, fulfillment of this task will be a significant challenge.
The top priority for the government today is to secure the resumption of Russian natural gas transit to Europe. It is essential, firstly because the image of Ukraine as a transit country is being undermined; and secondly, because there is a risk of physical damage to our gas transportation system if the gas flow is not resumed.
What gives me confidence that the negotiations on gas supply will be finalized shortly, is the existence of the October Memorandum between the Russian and Ukrainian Prime Ministers, as well as gas reserves accumulated in underground storage. The latter provides a firm base from which to negotiate and has already permitted us to hold out for several weeks without using, for our own needs, a single – and I emphasize a single! – cubic metre of anybody’s gas. I would like to stress that the Government of Ukraine does not bind the conclusion of an agreement on gas supply to Ukraine to the issue of resuming gas transit to Europe. That would be unreasonable and unfair.
The Government takes full responsibility for resolving the crisis in relations with Russia, which was not initiated by us.
I confirm once again that, on the 30th of December, all mutually beneficial terms for the supply of gas to Ukraine and transit to Europe were agreed at the level of the Prime Ministers of Ukraine and Russia. But during the last two days of the year, those political forces within Ukraine that have corruption links to the shadowy middleman, RosUkrEnergo, took the opportunity to ruin the signing of the contract, and sabotage the entire painstakingly constructed process of negotiation. This devastating act is being continued by Ukraine’s politicians even today and I will put an end to it one of these days.
To act effectively and responsibly, we will put firmly into practice a single government approach and position to gas diplomacy. I will not allow anyone to manage the negotiation process in parallel and control Naftogaz in order to sabotage the talks. To put it simply, I need two things: that nobody puts a spoke in my wheels nor stabs me in my back. In this context, the latest statements by some officials from the Presidential Secretariat aimed at me, do nothing to strengthen the position of the Ukrainian Government in its negotiations with Russia, and do not serve to enhance the image of Ukraine in Europe. I will never answer to them. The only thing I would like to do is to ask the President to deprive his irresponsible clerks of the freedom of unfair speech.
Despite the involvement of many people in the gas sphere, we have returned today to the point where we started two weeks ago: namely, that the gas problem must be solved by the Government. The only difference is that we now have to undertake this in more difficult circumstances.
The main principles of the negotiations will be the following: no middlemen; direct relations between Naftogaz and Gazprom; mutually beneficial prices for gas and transit; no talks about possible privatization or any other forms of transfer of the Ukrainian gas transportation system; all Russian gas directed to the European countries will be, to a single metre, given to Europe.
There is the need to compromise in order to preserve friendly relations between Ukraine and Russia, and to uphold the reputation of both countries in Europe. I am sure that such a compromise will be brokered.
Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko
16 January 2009