Posted on 04/11/2014 5:44:08 AM PDT by goldstategop
MOSCOW, April 11. /ITAR-TASS/. Moscow is astonished by elaborations in third countries, including the US, on the fairness or unfairness of the prices of natural gas exported to the US in the framework of silence on Kiev’s outstanding debts that are the root-cause of the problem at the moment, Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary said Friday.
“We can only say it’s regrettable that the assessments of the situation voiced on Thursday omitted the main component part of the problem, either inadvertently or purposefully, and this component part is Ukraine’s debt for the gas already delivered,” Peskov said.
“It’s difficult to understand the Americans’ line of argumentation about the fairness or unfairness of the price for gas because these assessments are passed by a third party, which doesn’t have anything to do with the market of gas in Europe and is neither seller nor buyer in this commercial agreement,” he said.
“It’s also difficult to understand why these assessments don’t mention the main constituent element of the problem, which is the overdue debt for gas rather than its price,” Peskov said.
define “elaboration”
The claim Russia is overcharging for delivered gas and that its not in accord with the market price.
Yes, the US is being silly. And, since the IMF seems hell-bent on lending money to the Ukraine which will go to Russia to pay off some of the gas bill, this is even sillier.
I remember years ago when the Russian pipelines to Europe were being built, there was speculation that European dependence on Russian gas would give the Russians political leverage. Well, duh! For years Russia was a reliable gas supplying partner, and European dependence increased. Now it’s time to pay the piper (weak pun, I know).
What you don’t know is a lot of the Russian gas goes missing. The money from the sales ends up in Putin’s buddy’s pockets and in the pockets of their comrades in Ukraine. “Officially” neither the Ukrainian or Russian government was involved.
Gazprom essentially has a license to steal. The unpaid bills only get noticed occasionally by the criminal syndicate when it suits their purpose such as now. Other times it’s business as usual with the criminals getting their cut. Just like the Mullahs in Iran who are beyond filthy rich you have the same deal in Russia.
Not only that, but the debt was accumulated under far below market prices. The ludicrous position of the unelected coup regime and the Obama regime is that Russia must continue to give gas to Ukraine at these rates.
If there is no corroborative evidence, then how do we know that the missing gas ended up in Putin's pockets or in others’ pockets.
If we do have evidence, then the gas is/would no longer be missing - we would know here it went to.
Ukraine should raise rates for use of pipelines on its territory.
I’ll look for the original article over the weekend. Obviously the extent of something like that will never be known to the public. It will never appear in the media. Both the previous Ukraine government and the current Russian government is controlled by a criminal syndicate. That is what had the Ukrainians upset after their hoped for shot at a better life with the EU was shattered.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.