Facts about Russian Gazprom’s $7 billion bill to Ukraine’s Naftogaz
Just hours before Ukraine signed a $10 billion deal with Royal Dutch Shell on Jan. 24 to extract shale gas in eastern Ukraine, the nation was hit with a $7 billion bill from Russia’s RAO Gazprom, the company that stands to lose the most from Ukraine’s energy independence from Russia.
The bill is Gazprom’s attempt to charge Ukraine for the gas it did not purchase in 2012, under a take-or-pay clause in the 2009 gas agreement that regulates the purchase of gas between Gazprom and Naftogaz Ukraine.
·The gas agreement was signed by then Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in the middle of a gas war in January 2009, when supplies of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine’s network were interrupted because of disputes over price and terms of supply to Ukraine.
For the full story, please visit The Kyiv Post
(Photo: Ghirla)
