UPDATE 1-Russia's Transneft says could redirect Ukrainian Druzhba volumes to Baltic ports
Source: Reuters
May 14 (Reuters) - Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft could redirect oil that is shipped annually via the Druzhba pipeline through Ukraine to the Russian Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust Luga, a company official said.
"If problems arise with oil supplies via the Ukrainian part of Druzhba, we can easily redirect this 17 million tonnes to Primorsk and Ust Luga," Igor Katsal, head of the transportation department at Transneft, told a company magazine in an interview published on Wednesday.
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Last year, Russia shipped a total of 50.3 million tonnes of oil via the Druzhba pipeline, which splits in Belarus into two streams supplying European refineries.
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Russia is hoping to sign a gas contract with China, while additional oil volumes to Asia could be shipped only after both the existing East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline and its spur to China are expanded.
Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/05/14/ukraine-crisis-oil-idUKL6N0O03GP20140514
Druzhba pipeline http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druzhba_pipeline
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Ukraine is as close to civil war as you can get and a solution must be found that satisfies all regions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Russia has no intention of sending its troops anywhere, Lavrov said in an interview today with Bloomberg Television at the Foreign Ministry building in central Moscow. While holding Russia accountable for Ukraines presidential election on May 25 is ridiculous, the vote cant be legitimate if its impeded by fighting, he said.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/05/14/ukraine-reluctantly-agrees-to-talks-on-decentralizing-power-without-pro-russian-insurgents/
bemildred
(90,061 posts)MOSCOW, May 14 (RIA Novosti) Russia does not consider Ukraine to be its backyard, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during an English-language interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday.
Ukraine isnt our backyard, Lavrov said, responding to Bloombergs suggestion that Moscow must have been disappointed to see the West meddle in what it regards as its special interest zone.
We dont consider ourselves foreigners [in Ukraine], the Russian minister said, citing more than 300 years of common history and the countries shared Slavic heritage.
The Russian foreign policy chief also called Kiev the mother city of Russia and the cradle of the Russian language.
http://en.ria.ru/world/20140514/189822841/Ukraine-Not-Russias-Backyard--Lavrov.html
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)established by Vikings navigating down those rivers and trading with the Eastern Mediterranean world... over a thousand years ago?
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,080 posts)Ukraine isn't Russia's backyard, it's just Russia?
bemildred
(90,061 posts)But "it's just Russia" doesn't sound too far off.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)It's amazing that Putin is trying to sell the lie that he has no interest yet publicly states he wants to rebuild Russia into what it once was. What's even more ridiculous is that people are naive enough to believe it.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)"Russia does not consider Ukraine to be its backyard, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said"
Which seems to contradict Putin's repeated use of the term 'Novorossiya' ("New Russia", a historical term for the area north of the Black Sea that the Russian empire conquered in the 1700's.). E.g., The question is to ensure the rights and interests of the Russian southeast... Its New Russia. Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Odessa were not part of Ukraine in czarist times..." (V. Putin, April 17)
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Russia May 14 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday Russia's defence industry should stop relying on foreign components and become self-sufficient following Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine.
"We need to do our utmost for anything used in our defence sector to be produced on our territory, so that we are not dependent on anyone...," he told a meeting of defence officials at his Black Sea residence.
"I am sure that our defence industry will benefit from that and one needs to adjust our scientific hubs for that," he said.
Washington has threatened to target some high tech exports to Russia as part of sanctions, in addition to visa bans and asset freezes that are already in place.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/14/ukraine-russia-putin-defence-idUSL6N0O049F20140514?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=bondsNews&rpc=401
bemildred
(90,061 posts)KALININGRAD Keen to dodge threatened Western sanctions against its companies over the Ukraine crisis, Russia said on Wednesday it was looking at ways to make its major state-owned exporters such as energy giants receive payment in rubles.
The idea of major exporters being paid in rubles rather than dollars has been gaining ground in recent weeks in response to sanctions imposed by the West on officials and companies over Russia's annexation of Crimea and an uprising in Ukraine's east.
"Here there are certain risks, but we are preparing a mechanism, we are working on it," Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters during a visit to Russia's Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad.
"Here there are certain costs for exporters and for the buyers of our export products because they will have to buy rubles, and the ruble is now somewhat volatile, plus there is payment of commission," he said.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/russia-wants-exporters-paid-in-rubles/500116.html
Strelnikov_
(7,772 posts)Yea, you knew.
Oil.
Putin has long been nursing ambitions of using Russia's vast oil and gas supplies as an instrument of power. In the mid '90s, after 15 years in the KGB, Putin went back to school, attending the St. Petersburg Mining Institute. He wrote a dissertation titled "Toward a Russian Transnational Energy Company." The topic: how to use energy resources for grand strategic planning.
In the early stages of pro-market reforms in Russia the state temporarily lost strategic control over the mineral resources industry. This led to the stagnation and disintegration of the geological sector built over many decades
. However, today the market euphoria of the early years of economic reform is gradually giving room to a more balanced approach that... recognises the need for a regulatory role of the state.
- Vladimir Putin, Toward a Russian Transnational Energy Company., PhD dissertation, St. Petersburg Mining Institute
The Rouble must become a more widespread means of international transactions. To this end, we need to open a stock exchange in Russia to trade in oil, gas, and other goods to be paid for in Roubles. Our goods are traded on global markets. Why are not they traded in Russia?
President Vladimir Putin, Speaking before the full Russian parliament, Cabinet and international reporters, May 2006
Russia has found the Achilles heel of the US colossus. In concert with its oil-producing partners and the rising powerhouse economies of the East, Russia is altering the foundations of the current US-led liberal global oil-market order, insidiously working to undermine its US-centric nature and slanting it toward serving first and foremost the energy-security needs and the geopolitical aspirations of the rising East
- W. Joseph Stroupe, author, Russian Rubicon: Impending Checkmate of the West, as quoted in the Asia Times, November 22, 2006
From the Russian perspective, the Saudi role and OPEC model have benefited the United States, which can pressure Saudi Arabia into opening the spigot to deal with supply emergencies; the US also pressures other oil producers, such as Libya, Iraq, Iran, Venezuela, and Indonesia, by military methods, diplomacy, and economic sanctions. In the Russian alternative, the US will be far less influential, and have fewer levers, commercial or military, to effect pressure on the energy suppliers. Russian arms and defense-industry partnerships are on offer to relatively weak, intervention-prone energy producers in Africa and Latin America to offset US pressure.
In the OPEC model, the benchmark is Brent crude, priced in US dollars. In the Russian model, the discount and disadvantage between the Brent and Urals benchmarks will be reduced, and pricing will evolve toward a currency basket, including the ruble. In the OPEC model, suppliers hold much of their cash and government securities in US controlled institutions. In the Russian model, cash is held in the form of a currency basket; conversion from cash is sought into non-US assets, particularly in the European market.
In the OPEC model, investment in new energy reserves should be open to, and may be controlled by, US corporations. In the Russian model, strategic reserves should be controlled by national companies, state-controlled champions, or joint ventures in which Russian interests are in the majority. The Russian model also extends to energy-convertible coal, uranium, and other mineral resources. Through negotiations for Russian accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the US, Australia, Canada and other resource-exporting states have sought to gain unlimited access to search and development of Russian minable resources.
The Russian model rejects this, and instead assigns priority and equity control of domestic resources to national resource companies. The model proposes tradeoffs and partnerships in resource exploitation in third countries, especially the developing states. The US-backed OPEC model assigns international priority to the Arab states. The Russian model assigns priority to the Central Asian alliance, including China, India, and Iran; secondarily to Latin America and ultimately Africa.
- John Helmer, Russian energy model challenges OPEC, Asia Times, July 18, 2006,
http://www.petrodollarwarfare.com/PDFs/Hysteria_Over_Iran_and_a_New_Cold_War_with_Russia.pdf (.pdf)
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Because Russia is a more of an exporting economy, while admitting that the USA wishes to be one again, and admitting too that oil is a big part of it for both. And Russia does have other substantial interests at stake. But still, oil and gas are very central for Russia, that's what your cites talk about.
But also for the USA it's about keeping Russia and the rest of Europe from getting too cozy, and a half dozen other motives, not all of them rational.
I think Russia is trying to assert herself, and it's relatively straightforward to understand for her case, whereas the USA case is ambiguous and needs a lot of rationalizing, and the same for the EU, you don't quite see why they went looking for this trouble, or are doing the things they are doing.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)BRUSSELS, May 14 (RIA Novosti) The European Union should call on Kiev rather than on Moscow to de-escalate the Ukrainian crisis, Russias deputy envoy to the EU said Wednesday.
The domestic conflict in Ukraine was triggered by the EU and US, but is now billed as Moscows plan, Alexander Krestyanov said.
Krestyanov believes that responsibility should lie with Kiev, which has been using the army and heavy military equipment to crack down on the protest movement.
http://en.ria.ru/world/20140514/189822137/Russian-EU-Envoy-Says-Ukraine-De-Escalation-Kievs-Responsibility.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)In the diplomatic brinkmanship accompanying the crisis in Ukraine, Russias Government has threatened to end cooperation with the US on major space projects such as the International Space Station and the entire GPS system.
After the US decided to impose sanctions over Russias involvement in hostiliites in Ukraine, Russia has now warned that maintenance of the GPS system could be curtailed.
Deputy Prime Minister Dimitry Rogozin has threatened to shut down Russian base stations that keep the GPS programme unless the US builds base stations that support Russias Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), its equivalent to GPS.
The US operates 11 GPS stations in Russia which are used to guide rocket and satellite launches.
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/item/36881-war-in-space-russia-threat
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Chancellor Merkel told reporters that she and the German government were working to ensure Ukraine's presidential elections can take place on May 25 and she urged all parties, including Russia, to help.
"We believe that the possibility of roundtables under the guidance of the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) offers here a good possibility," she said of the Ukrainian national talks set for Wednesday.
"The more representative the roundtables are, the better that is," she added.
"But it's clear of course too that only those can be welcome who are ready and show credibly that they don't achieve their goals with violence," Mrs Merkel said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/angela-merkel/10829542/Angela-Merkel-insists-Ukraine-elections-take-place.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)BERLIN, May 14 (Reuters) - Europe is partly to blame for the crisis in Ukraine although this is no excuse for Russian behaviour towards the former Soviet republic, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's deputy said on Wednesday.
The tone struck by Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, head of the Social Democrats (SPD), contrasts with that of conservative Merkel who has pinned responsibility on Russia for exacerbating the crisis, which has soured ties between Moscow and the West.
"Certainly, the European Union has also made mistakes, although this does not justify Russia's behaviour," Gabriel told the German daily Rheinische Post.
"It was certainly not smart to create the impression in Ukraine that it had to decide between Russia and the EU," the Economy Minister added. "But again: That was not and is not a justification to plunge a country into chaos."
http://www.trust.org/item/20140514123724-7meos/
bemildred
(90,061 posts)KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- The Ukrainian government reluctantly agreed to launch talks on decentralizing power Wednesday as part of a European-backed peace plan, but did not invite its main foes, the pro-Russia insurgents who have declared independence in the east.
That deliberate oversight left it unclear what the negotiations might accomplish.
Ukraine's prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, was to chair the first in a series of round tables with national lawmakers, government figures and regional officials as part of a peace plan drafted by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The trans-Atlantic security and rights group also includes Russia and the United States.
Even as Yatsenyuk launched the talks he was dismissive of them, thanking the OSCE for its efforts but saying Ukraine has its own plan to end the crisis. He gave no details of that plan.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_UKRAINE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-14-07-32-13
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)And who pays, of course. The Kiev government is in a most unfortunate situation, and very badly advised too.
joshcryer
(62,265 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)Ever since the Maidan demonstrations began in Ukraine late last year, Russia has accused the protesters -- and then the new Kyiv authorities -- of anti-Semitism.
The issue of anti-Semitism became a political football, with accusations and counter-accusations, including denunciations from Ukrainian Jewish leaders who were keen to play down the alleged threat. Ukraine's chief rabbi, Yaakov Dov Bleich, accused Russia of anti-Semitic provocations and a leaflet which surfaced in Donetsk a few weeks later summoning Jews to register certainly had the hallmarks of one.
With its accusations, Russia also turned back attention on itself, with an anchor on a state-funded TV channel implying that Jews brought the Holocaust on themselves.
A new global poll by the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League has shed a little more light on attitudes to Jews in both countries. And, according to the survey, Ukraine is a more anti-Semitic place than Russia.
http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-more-anti-semitic-than-russia/25384493.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Pro-Russia rebels claimed today to have captured a senior Ukrainian military commander as Kiev vowed revenge for seven soldiers gunned down in fighting.
Militants in Donetsk say they have taken prisoner Colonel Yuriy Lebyd, head of Ukraines eastern territorial command, who had refused to switch sides when Crimea was annexed by Russia.
It follows the bloodiest day for Ukrainian forces so far, with seven troops killed and another seven wounded in an ambush yesterday.
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/separatists-capture-army-commander-in-ukraine-9369998.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)In a statement released to the ITAR-TASS, the brewer said: We have stopped supplying and selling beer in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk in order not to put our employees at risk, adding the current situation in the east (of Ukraine) is unlikely to produce a positive impact on business of any kind.
Carlsberg-Ukraine, part of the Carlsberg Group, holds a 27.9% share of the Ukrainian beer market, the second largest according to Nielsen, with its share in Ukraines market of rye beer, known as kvas, accounting for 28% of the countrys total market by volume.
Carlsberg Ukraines net income stood at 621 million hryvnias in 2013 while its profit was estimated at 3.47 billion hryvnias.
http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2014/05/carlsberg-ukraine-halts-beer-supply-in-east/
JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his country will demand payment in advance for gas supplies to Ukraine starting from 1 June.
In an open letter to European leaders, Mr Putin said Ukraine now owed Russia $3.5bn (2.55bn euros; £2.1bn) for gas already delivered.
He said Russia remained open to consultations, but the EU had failed to come up with specific solutions.
Mr Putin's letter follows similar comments by Gazprom boss Alexei Miller.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27420856