Russia Helped Ukraine, But Now Ukraine Needs More, IMF's Lagarde Says

Russia wasn’t all bad for Ukraine. A 45% reduction in the price of natural gas and what was supposed to be an additional $15 billion in aid was a necessary “lifeline”, the International Monetary Fund’s Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday.

Speakqing to PBS News Hour on April 2, IMF's Managing Director Lagarde said, “The economy of Ukraine was against the wall and heading for disaster. It’s an economy that needed reforms, that Ukraine needed profound transformation of its fiscal policy, monetary policy and on its policy on energy to mention just the key ones. Without the lifeline it was getting from Russia a few months ago, Ukraine was heading nowhere.”

Russia has since cancelled all of those life lines, including Gazprom's haircut on natural gas deliveries. Ukraine owes around $1.2 billion to Gazprom.

Relations between Moscow and Kiev soured in late 2013 following a decision by Ukrainian leaders at the time to reject a trade deal with Europe. Millions took to the streets of Kiev and to Independent Square in protest, wanting closer economic ties to Europe. Shortly after the ousting of Ukrainian decision maker and president Viktor Yanukovych on Feb. 22, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that a promised $15 billion aid package was still in the cards for the old Soviet ally.

Ukraine actually had a good deal from Russia going in to the current situation.

They got to be an exclusive middleman with favored pricing and trade with Russia that they could mark up and sell to the EU (Germany - Poland).

All they had to do was not become an EU captive, adopt unfavorable trade terms toward Russia, and pay their bills.

Remaining independent would have mineral, energy and land policy remain under Ukraine control, while the EU deal would result in Ukraine citizen debt serfdom and EU control of land and economy, requiring Russia to sell discounted gas directly to the EU and probably NOT get paid for it.

Now Ukraine gets the EU Homos to run their lives, manage their money, and grab their land and minerals.

And they can't keep their exclusive Russian franchise discount, line of credit, or sell their stuff eastward.

Fools.

Kremlin uses gas as a weapon
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/09/opinion/ed-gazprom9

Russia is wielding its resources to cow its former satellites and keep Europe in check.

January 09, 2009
“On the surface, the battle between Russia and Ukraine that has choked off natural-gas supplies to much of Europe in the dead of a cold winter is a purely commercial dispute. Deeper down, it’s something more menacing — part of what looks like a calculated strategy by Russia to regain influence over countries that were once part of the Soviet empire and to neutralize European opposition.

Gazprom, Russia’s state gas monopoly, is as much a policy arm of the Kremlin as it is a company. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is its former chairman. It owns a big Russian media company and operates it as a government propaganda arm. It is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and accounts for a quarter of Russia’s budget. The government controls a majority of its board, and though Gazprom’s management decision-making structure is murky, most analysts believe the man who really calls the shots is Russian Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin, who once argued in a scholarly paper that Russia’s energy resources were the key to promoting its national interests.”

... Russian Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin, who once argued in a scholarly paper that Russia’s energy resources were the key to promoting its national interests.

How can Putin be so evil as to actually use Russian resources in Russia's national interest?

Everyone knows that morally superior men and nations like Obama and the United States use national resources like petroleum and gas to promote Saudi Arabian Wahhabi national interest, Al Qaeda military power, and Homosexual lifestyle superiority worldwide.

Before continuing to praise the moral superiority of Putin and his fellow KGB agents in the Russian oil oligarchy; please read this article by a former KGB agent, who knows well the treachery they continue to engage in, under the renamed FSB:

The Kremlin's Religious Crusade-By: Ion Mihai Pacepa FrontPageMagazine.com | Tuesday, June 30, 2009

http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=35388
FTA:

“Since ancient times the Kremlin has used religion to manipulate people. The tsars employed the Church to instill domestic obedience. The Soviet rulers kept the population quiet through the KGB, but they dreamed about world revolution. After the home front had calmed down, they charged the KGB to work through the church to help the Kremlin expand its influence into Latin America and beyond—since Peter the Great, Russian tsars have been obsessed with finding a way to break into the New World.

Creating a secret intelligence army of religious servants and using it to promote the Kremlin’s interests abroad was an important task the KGB community had during the 27 years I belonged to it. Thousands of uncooperative religious servants were killed or sent to gulags. The compliant ones were used.

Since priests were not allowed to become KGB officers, they assumed the position of cooptee or deepcover officer. A cooptee received perks from the KGB (promotions, trips abroad, foreign cigarettes, foreign beverages, etc). A deepcover officer enjoyed the same perks, plus a secret supplementary salary according to his real or imaginary KGB rank. To preserve their secrecy, all priests who became cooptees or deepcover officers were known inside the KGB only by their code names.

Recent revelations show that the KGB continues along the same religious crusade as before, although it has meanwhile been discreetly renamed the FSB[1] to promote the idea that the criminal Soviet political police, which killed over 20 million people, has been dispersed to the winds of change.

On December 5, 2008, the Russian patriarch Aleksi II died. The KGB had carried him under the codename “DROZDOV” and awarded him its Certificate of Honor, as was learned from a KGB archive accidentally left behind in Estonia.[2] For the first time in its history, Russia could now democratically elect a new patriarch.

On January 27, 2009, the 700 Synod delegates assembling in Moscow were indeed presented with a slate listing three candidates. All, however, belonged to the secret KGB army... (snip)”

-This discussion about Russia and Ukraine isn't personal, at least not for me. Russia is, in my view, a corrupt oligarchy composed of brutal, murderous Fascists, who use the natural resources of their country and their former satellites, to become billionaires. Gazprom is run and owned by Russian robber barons, including Putin and Medvedev

The making of a neo-KGB state
Political power in Russia now lies with the FSB, the KGB’s successor

http://www.economist.com/node/9682621

. You believe differently, and that's fine. As I said, you'll get no arguments from me, as to the immorality and corruption of the 0bama administration. But since my posts seem to anger you, I'll not post any further comments to you.

Take care.

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