EU leaders draw up plans to send gas to Ukraine if Russia cuts off supply.

[dipsydoodle]

EU leaders are rapidly drawing up plans to send some of their stocks of Russian gas back to Ukraine and other eastern European countries that need it, if Vladimir Putin reacts to western sanctions over the Crimea crisis by starving the continent of energy.

Russia’s largest gas producer, Gazprom, said on Friday that Kiev had missed a deadline to pay $440m for gas received in February and threatened to cut off the country’s supply if it did not make the payment.

Gazprom provides Ukraine with around half its gas, and other countries in eastern and southern Europe, including Poland and Greece, reportedly have low stocks of gas.

Although Gazprom said the threat to Kiev would not affect the supply to the rest of Europe, western leaders are steeling themselves for a possible battle with Moscow over energy supplies. At least half of the Russian gas that is piped to Europe passes through Ukraine.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/mar/07/eu-leaders-gas-russia-ukraine

I think the other half of the Russian gas supply goes through Nord Stream.

[freshwest]

1. Hilarious! EU buys Russian gas to ship to Ukraine instead of paying the debt. Russia wins anyway.

What's wrong with this picture?

[dipsydoodle]

2. The losers would be Ukraine perverse as that may sound.

The EU would contra their payments due for gas against loans to Ukraine secured against Ukraine's state assets. Assets secured against debt are IMF rules which the EU intends to follow.

There's also the general matter of using Gazprom's pipes for reverse feeds.

[freshwest]

3. Yup, and the new government likely follows the Fatherland Party's platform of no foreign ownership

of land in Ukraine - likely set off by the sale of farmland to China - all under the aegis of corporations - and probably a lot of other assets.

When the IMF (or whoever, eyes glazing over) has to stake their money on assets in Ukraine, is that not in fact, in nor in principle, going to violate that platform?

That 'loans to Ukraine secured against Ukraine's state assets. Assets secured against debt are IMF rules which the EU intends to follow' does it not mean that -

In addition to the costs of additional transportation of gas, a waste since it's already in the pipelines in Ukraine from the Russian sources now, and the cost of financing debts that they cannot pay now, it sounds like Ukraine will be up for sale to foreign bidders.

So much for 'nationalism.'

[dipsydoodle]

4. We'll I did say they'd become "owned" way back.

btw - China's got a 50 year lease on the farnland : not the freehold. Chinese just needs to able to use the land to help overcome food shortages.

Fat lot of good the Fatherland's platform will do them : Mother wasn't into physically owning them whereas Uncle is.