Russia's sends gift to Ukraine in honor of the New Year.

[another_liberal]

Russia President, Vladimir Putin, is lifting the conditions on coal and electrical power supplies to Ukraine as a good will gesture to honor the New Year. The government will not be required to pay in advance for these energy supplies, as has been the situation since Kiev fell so far behind in it's payments for earlier deliveries.

The Russian President is doing something very generous for millions of people who are in real need this Winter. He is doing this despite the fact that some of those same needy people like to shout publicly how much they hate him. I wonder if our American President will do anything of the same value and good will in return?

A rotary dredge works on the coal face of the Borodinsky opencast colliery, near the Siberian town of Borodino, east of Krasnoyarsk (Reuters)


Moscow to supply coal, electricity to Ukraine without repayment.


Russia will supply coal and electricity to Ukraine without prepayment, Vladimir Putin's spokesman said. Ukraine is trying to cope with energy problems amid an ongoing crisis in the industrial east. This proves the president’s political goodwill and support, “particularly before New Year,” said presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Saturday, as quoted by TASS. “Against all the odds as President Putin said earlier in the hard times he had never given up the consistent policy towards supporting the Ukrainian people and providing real and not eventual support, due to the critical energy situation Putin took a decision on such supplies regardless the absence of prepayment, which is the condition of making them,” he added.

Moscow will supply 500,000 tonnes of coal to Ukraine per month, according to Russian Vice-Premier Dmitry Kozak. "If an additional corresponding agreement may be reached, we're ready to supply another 500,000 tonnes, totally 1 million tonnes of coal, to Ukraine in order to help it solve energy problems," Kozak told Rossiya24 TV channel. He added that energy carriers will be supplied to Ukraine on easy terms. However, the amount of electricity planned to be transferred to Ukraine is unclear.

The decision comes in response to Ukraine’s request, he said. Previously, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko ordered the Energy Ministry to discuss the supply issue with Russia. Earlier on Saturday, the Ukrainian Regional Development Ministry said on its website that Kiev will begin receiving Russian coal without prepayment, citing the presidential press service. However, the ministry's spokeswoman, Nadezhda Petruniak, later said that the website had been hacked and the ministry did not have any information about energy supplies from third countries. Kozak expressed hope that Russia’s decision will help ensure reliable energy supplies to Crimea. On Friday, Ukraine again fully ceased electric power supplies to Crimea without any notification, said Crimea's fuel and energy minister, Sergey Yegorov. Power cuts started on Wednesday.

Though Crimea joined Russia in March, it is still dependent on power supplies from Ukraine. It is suffering from supply disruptions due to a production deficit in Ukraine. Ukraine is experiencing a shortage of gas and coal for public utilities such as heating and electricity. The gas shortage was prompted by Ukraine’s debt to Russia, while the lack of coal is related to military operations in the Donetsk Basin, which houses most of the country's coal mines.

(snip)

Read more at: http://rt.com/business/218103-russia-coal-electricity-ukraine/

[Duckhunter935]

1. Nice of him to sell their own coal

back to them. The coal is being shipped from east Ukraine to Russia and then sold back to Ukraine. Putin making a buck from stolen property, how nice of him.

[another_liberal]

2. If you are referring to the Donbas coal production . . .

No one is getting any use out of those resources. The coal pits in the Donbas have been unable to operate since our pet fascists from Kiev destroyed the infrastructure that those works relied on. Our little proxy war is why Ukraine has an energy shortage to start with.

[Duckhunter935]

4. Rebels did a lot of the damage also

The government must have done a poor job. The mines must be up and running now though as the miners are working and sending the stolen coal to Russia for resale back to Ukraine. Just for the record, we all know that the entire Kiev government has been turned into neo-Nazi fascist Russian hating NATO zombies from the Nuland cookies. Keep quoting RT, it just makes your points even less viable to the majority.

I see the rebels are attacking the airport again as well as the Mariupol port. Nice that they abide by the cease fire they signed.

[Igel]

12. It's mixed.

A lot of the mines are flooded. Some levels in some mines might be unsalvageable. Some of the mines were apparently intentionally sabotaged since they belong to Ukrainian oligarchs. A lot of the lesser-producing mines had been mothballed over the last decade as demand for coal fell.

Some mines are, indeed, up and running. The coal is used locally or shipped over the border into Russia.

At the same time, the LNR and DNR have export bans on coal to Ukraine (everything else, pretty much, too). It doesn't matter who owns the mines. But because of the export bans a number of thermoelectric stations are running low on supplies. That and other problems make supplying electricity difficult--beginning a day or two ago the rolling blackouts for the first time were allowed to hit the DNR and LNR and Crimea.

Immediately Russia tries to make nice. A purely humanitarian gesture, since it's Russian puppets that have created the mess, of course. And only made once the Crimea and the Russian puppets are affected.

And it's not offering electricity and coal for free. Just with no pre-payment and without having scheduled payments. They'll want payment. And it'll be interesting, since there's no negotiation over price or terms ahead of time.

[Duckhunter935]

15. Thanks, best I have seen

here as far as what with the rolling blackouts going on and I think you are spot on. It was funny this happened as son as Crimea was shut off as part of from the shortage of coal

[another_liberal]

19. There are some good clarifications in your comments . . .

Though I don't exactly agree with your conclusions, thank you for the additional information.

[Comrade Grumpy]

7. I hadn't heard that. Got a link?

[Duckhunter935]

8. Here

The OM continued to observe high numbers of dumper trucks transporting coal from the Luhansk region to the Russian Federation. As reported previously, the observers saw Russian Federation customs officers verifying that the trucks were empty while leaving the Russian Federation.

http://www.osce.org/om/132996

Seems to have been going on for some time

[Boreal]

10. Bullshit

That's Russian coal. The Kiev Juntawaffe BOMBED many of the coal mines in Donbass and targeted the infrastructure as part of their ethnic cleansing campaign.

[Duckhunter935]

11. you forgot the sarcasm thingie

By the way, the neutral international observers disagree

The OM continued to observe high numbers of dumper trucks transporting coal from the Luhansk region to the Russian Federation. As reported previously, the observers saw Russian Federation customs officers verifying that the trucks were empty while leaving the Russian Federation.

http://www.osce.org/om/132996

Seems to have been going on for some time, notice "continued" and "as reported previously"

Juntawaffe and ethnic cleansing, give me a fucking break. The only ethnic cleansing going on is by Russia with the Crimean Tarars.

[NuclearDem]

3. ...

[PragmaticLiberal]

5. You have to give him/her credit.

They're certainly persistent.

[Duckhunter935]

6. Yes, that is a true statement

Pay must be good

[PragmaticLiberal]

9. I've been thinking that very thought for months.

[another_liberal]

17. Are you accusing me of being a paid agent of a foreign government?

That is not a joke, my careless friend.

[Duckhunter935]

20. Nope

Did I specify you?

[another_liberal]

21. Good to hear . . .

I won't have to report you to control agent, "Boris."

He's currently with Natasha somewhere in wilds near "Frostbite Falls." They are, "Hot on trail of Moose and Squirrel!"



?w=625

[Posteritatis]

13. It's like unintentional self-parody at this point. (nt)

[PoliticalPothead]

35. Posts like this are the message board equivalent

of sticking your fingers in your ears and saying "lalala I can't hear you!"

Completely childish and devoid of any thought whatsoever.

[RobertEarl]

14. There is a war going on there

And it is all about the money and the 1%.

This gesture from the Russians is a welcome move to those who do not like war, because what the gesture can do is make war less of a matter.

For those complaining, all they are doing is buying into the idea that war should increase and no gestures of making peace are to be acceptable to them now, or in the future.

[another_liberal]

16. Well said!

Thank you for depicting the situation so clearly. I sincerely hope our President breaks away from his war hawk advisers and makes a gesture of peace in return.

Unfortunately, what seems to be in the works is a plan to transfer our surplus armored vehicles and other war fighting equipment from Afghanistan to the Kiev's military. The MIC wants to encourage them to renew the fighting against ethnic Russian Separatist in eastern Ukraine.

[SidDithers]

18. ...

Dude. Just make the switch. It's time to put James Baldwin to bed.



Sid

[Scootaloo]

26. Sid, I don't think Another_Liberal is that into you. Maybe stop following him, it's creepy

Also, there hasn't been a Soviet Union since 1991. Did you just not get the memo or are you pretending to be John McCain?

[NuclearDem]

27. Could've fooled me.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_you_are_lynching_Negroes

[Scootaloo]

28. Well, fooling you isn't terribly difficult, from what I've seen.

[NuclearDem]

29. ...

[Scootaloo]

30. ...

[NuclearDem]

31. ...

[Scootaloo]

32. I'm ending this. Play me off, Derpy Hooves!

[NuclearDem]

33. And with that, I bid you a hoof.

[treestar]

22. Very generous

What a kind nation Russia is!

[another_liberal]

23. Meanwhile, we're sending Ukraine our surplus armored vehicles from Afghanistan.

Maybe some Ukrainians can shelter in those, until they're out of fuel to run the heaters.

[treestar]

24. That sounds pretty generous, too

If they need armored vehicles and we are giving them to them.

[another_liberal]

25. "War means more!"

What's good for the MIC is good for America, right?

[treestar]

36. No I thought it might be good for Ukraine

But if they do not need these vehicles, they could always turn them down.

[AgingAmerican]

39. Right, the Ukrainians should just allow Russia in

...unopposed. Hell, they should even toss flowers at them, waving signs with a shirtless Pootie on them.

[edhopper]

34. I wonder

Do you think there is a single member of DU who doesn't see these post for the bullshit propaganda they are?

Any who see these and think "that Putin isn't a bad guy after all."

[arely staircase]

37. rt