(1)
Ukraine has been
in the U.S. news
a lot in 2019.
(2)
For all five years,
the top nation
for this blog's
page views
was always the U.S.,
usually followed by
a few other English
speaking nations
in the top five.
Suddenly Ukraine
was number one here,
with a burst of about
1,000 page views
in one seven day period ?
So I tried to post one article
of interest to Ukraine -- it was
a negative article about
a natural gas pipeline "war"
There may now be good news.
Instead of a natural gas "war",
it now appears that 2020
will have normal Russian
natural gas pipeline flow
to Europe, through Ukraine.
Late on Thursday,
Russian energy minister
Alexander Novak, and
Ukrainian counterpart
Oleksiy Orzhel,
announced they
had an agreement,
in principle, for a
new 2020 contract.
Talks were
set to continue
in Minsk on Friday.
On Friday, the
Financial Times reported
a major gas transit deal
between Ukraine and
Russia "in principle" .
This deal, when signed,
would end a standoff
after Ukraine ceased
buying gas directly
from Russia's Gazprom
in 2015.
Ukraine gains some $3BN
annually from pipeline fees
-- Gazprom is responsible
for over a third of the gas
consumed in the EU.,
That natural gas
passes through Ukraine
via a pipeline, on the way
to central, southern, and
northwest Europe.
A stand-off between
the two countries
had threatened
to disrupt supplies
to Europe when the
existing contract
expired on
December 31, 2019.
The new contract
is expected to keep
Russian gas flowing
through Ukraine
to Europe.
Ukrainian negotiator Orzhel
said the talks were mediated
by the European Commission
in Berlin.
The new agreement
ends the U.S. rationale
for new US sanctions
targeting companies
laying pipeline for the
massive Gazprom-Europe
Nord Stream 2 natural gas
pipeline from Russia
to Germany.
Nord Stream 2 sanctions
were included in the 2020
NDAA (U.S. Defense
spending bill), about to
cross Trump's desk,
aiming to derail the project.
The 760-mile Nord Stream 2
pipeline would allow Russia
to export natural gas
directly to Germany.
The Trump Administration
opposed it, as depriving
Ukraine of badly needed
gas pipeline transit fees
along the current route
across Ukraine, for
Russian natural gas
going to Germany.
The Trump Administration
also charged Russia
with attempting to
compromise Europe's
energy independence
for geopolitical leverage.
Just four years after
the Crimea crisis, and
just after Ukraine's Zelensky
met with Putin a few weeks
ago in Paris, there seems to be
a compromise, defusing
tensions, despite US meddling.
On Friday morning,
UK contracts for natural gas
delivery in January 2020
were down 7%,
to 36.25 pence per therm.