Rosukrenergo Emerges as Winner in Gas War

[CHIMO]

The secretive Swiss-registered gas trading company Rosukrenergo has emerged a clear winner in the unprecedented price dispute between Russia and Ukraine that rocked both countries and the rest of Europe for the first three days of the new year.

As a jittery European Union prepared to hold a crisis meeting over the standoff, which led to cutbacks of vital Russian gas supplies to Europe for the first time, officials at Gazprom, Naftogaz Ukrainy and Rosukrenergo were urgently hammering out the final details of an agreement that would allow all sides to save face, according to a co-manager of Rosukrenergo, Wolfgang Putschek.

Under a deal reached in the wee hours of Wednesday, Ukraine agreed to buy all its gas imports from Rosukrenergo under a complex scheme in which the trader would mix more expensive gas from Gazprom with cheaper gas from Central Asia for sale to Ukraine for an average price of $95 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Others, however, claimed the way the standoff ended had proved Russia's strength. "Gazprom is the mightiest player, and the mightiest player can fix the rules," Rosukrenergo's Putschek said.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/01/10/001.html

Did Putee loose a bishop when he should have sacrificed a pawn? Or maybe it's a trap?

[bemildred]

1. Pooty-poot doubled his price in three days.

If this is losing, I want to lose too.