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| A NEW RUSSIAN GAS CRISIS? 29/06/2009 |
| (2009-06-29) |
| Last updated: 2009-06-30 14:10 EET |
European Commission experts in Brussels, together with their Ukrainian and Russian counterparts from Neftogaz and Gazprom, are looking for a solution to avoid a new natural gas crisis, which might be caused by Ukraine’s financial problems. Russia gave Ukraine a deadline, July 7th, to pay its outstanding bills for imported gas, before cutting off their gas-deliveries. Such crises have been common lately, being blamed either on Russia’s imperialist tendencies, or Kiev’s attempt to get profits, given its strategic position as a transit country for the gas pipeline.
However, it’s obvious now that a new gas crisis is a political consequence of the world economic crisis, and beyond energy security, what’s at stake is the future of Ukraine as a buffer zone between Europe and Russia. But in this conflict neither of the sides can act unilaterally. Ukraine, which has inherited from the former USSR an energy famished industrial sector, is totally dependent on Russia, which it disappointed, politically speaking, when it criticised its intervention in Georgia, the presence of Russian military bases in Sevastopol, and when it expressed a wish to join NATO. In turn, Russia depends on Ukraine, whose territory is transited by the gas pipelines conveying gas to the West, and a possible drop in gas supplies would badly affect its economy.
The 3rd big actor in this issue, the EU, has so far refused to intervene in what it considered a bilateral conflict. But it is becoming more obvious that it will have to step in and give a hand in solving the gas issue, given that the gas war between Russia and Ukraine might result in a price hike that will impact all European taxpayers. For the moment, Romania is not exclusively dependent on natural gas imports, but dependency on one single supply source – Russia, and one single conveyance pipeline (transiting Ukraine) makes it vulnerable in terms of energy security.
The three solutions discussed in Bucharest, namely extension of its storage capacity, the development of a terminal for liquefied natural gas in the Black Sea ,and participation in the Nabucco gas pipeline project, have not become certainties yet. The Nabuco project, highly favoured by Romanian officials, poses a number of risks; therefore, experts say it would be in Romania’s best interest to also participate in the South Stream project – under which Russian gas would be provided to Italy through the Black Sea - which offers at least an alternative route, if not a different supplier.
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2025-04-03
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