U.S. hits corruption in Russian gas deals

U.S. officials say Russia has been using its control of Soviet-era pipelines to squeeze Central Asian sellers of natural gas while setting up corrupt trading intermediaries whose only apparent purpose is to milk huge profits.

Alarmed by a recent price dispute between Russia and Ukraine that disrupted vital gas supplies to Europe, the Bush administration raised doubts about Russia's fitness to chair the Group of Eight leading industrialized countries, beginning with a finance ministers' meeting in Moscow this week. ...

U.S. officials noted a huge gap between what Russia pays to import gas from Central Asia and what it charges for the gas in Europe, while middlemen rake off vast profits.

"It's a fascinating story, because it combines corruption with economic reform and Russia's ambition to dominate its neighbors," said a senior State Department official who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. "It's a great story, but it's an ugly one, too." ...

"These mysterious shady trading firms have no purpose," the senior official said. "They have been a source of corruption for years. They are instruments for arrangements by which some people buy cheap and sell expensive."

The official singled out RosUkrEnergo, established in 2004 as an intermediary between Gazprom and the Ukrainian state gas company Naftohaz. RosUkrEnergo was at the center of an agreement between Russia and Ukraine last month that ended their bitter price dispute.

"It's said to be run by people with organized criminal ties, as well as good Kremlin connections," the official said of RosUkrEnergo, which is co-owned by Gazprom and an Austrian-registered company, Centragas.

Ukrainian intelligence thinks that Semyon Mogilevich, an official in the administration of former President Leonid Kuchma who is wanted by the FBI and Interpol for money laundering, has a stake in RosUkrEnergo.

U.S. officials noted a huge gap between what Russia pays to import gas from Central Asia and what it charges for the gas in Europe, while middlemen rake off vast profits.

Perhaps the author wishes to stop the scandal of U.S. oil companies making profits. Isn't the point of capitalism making profit? Is making profit a scandal, such a viewpoint is commununist isn't it?

"These mysterious shady trading firms have no purpose," the senior official said.

No purpose, yet this same article in the very next paragraph credits this intermediary firm for resolving the Ukrainian/Russian gas standoff. Is that no purpose? "RosUkrEnergo was at the center of an agreement between Russia and Ukraine last month that ended their bitter price dispute."

"They have been a source of corruption for years. They are instruments for arrangements by which some people buy cheap and sell expensive."

Let us stop the great scandal of businesses buying low and selling high! Such corruption must be stamped out! End capitalism now! Oh brother.

Ukrainian intelligence thinks that Semyon Mogilevich, an official in the administration of former President Leonid Kuchma who is wanted by the FBI and Interpol for money laundering, has a stake in RosUkrEnergo.

If a criminal owned a single share of IBM, would you call IBM a corrupt and criminal company? They would then have a stake in IBM. How much of a share does this person have in the company? Also note the lack of perspective on the situation? Ukranians were exaggerating the amount of gas they consume to receive extra, at a low price, and immediately turning around and selling it to europe at the high price. That's corruption too, but no mention here. Actually the net effect of the Ukranian/Russian agreement was to drastically reduce the potential for corruption.

Light-weights? Well, neither the Finns nor Khokhly were able to come up with anything comparable:
"...So, write down the recipe of "Canaan balsam". Life is given to man only once, and one should live it so as not to mistake the recipes:
Denatured alcohol 100 g
Dark beer 200 g
Purified wood lacquer 100 g
And so, now you have "Canaan balsam" (people call it "brown-black bitch") - the liquid of brownish-black color, with moderate strength and strong aroma. It is not an aroma, it is an anthem. An anthem of democratic youth. Precisely so, because those who have drunk this cocktail become vulgar and overcome by dark forces. How many times I've observed it!
To avoid these dark forces, there are two ways: first, don't drink "Canaan balsam". And second, drink instead of it the "Geneva Spirit". It doesn't have a drop of nobility, but it has the flavor. You'll ask me: what is the secret of this flavor? I'll answer: I do not know. Then you'll think and ask: what's the answer to the riddle? And the answer is that the cologne "White Lilac", one of "Geneva Spirit" components, shall not be substituted by anything, neither by "Jasmine", nor by "Shipr", nor by "Silver Lily".
"There are no equivalents among the components" - as the old alchemists used to say, and they knew what they were talking about. "Silver Lily" is not "White Lilac" even in moral aspect, to say nothing about the bouquets.
"Lily", for example, stimulates the mind, worries the consciousness, and strengthens the discipline. "White Lilac", to the contrary, calms down the consciousness and reconciles one with one's life... With me it was like this: I drank a whole bottle of "Silver Lily", and I was sitting and crying. Why was I crying?- Because I remembered my Mom, I remembered and could not forget my Mom. "Mom"- I said. And I cried. And again: "Mom" - and again cried. Another, more stupid person, would be still sitting and crying. But me? I took a bottle of "White Lilac" and drank it. And wouldn't you know - tears dried, stupid laughter overcame me, and as for the Mom - I forgot even her name. And so, I laugh at people who, while preparing "Geneva Spirit", add "Silver Lily" to the medication against sweaty feet!
Listen to the recipe:
"White Lilac" 50 g
The medication against sweaty feet 50 g
Zhigulevskoye beer 200 g
Alcohol-based lacquer 150 g
But if a man does not want to trample the earth needlessly, he should send to hell both "Canaan balsam" and "Geneva Spirit". He'd better sit down and mix himself a "Young communist girl's tear". This cocktail is smelly and strange. Why it is smelly, you'll learn later. At first I'll explain why it's strange.
A person drinking simple vodka either preserves both the sound mind and the good memory or loses both. But with the "Young communist girl's tear" it's outright funny - when one drinks 100 grams of that "tear", the memory remains good, but there's no trace of sound mind. After 100 more grams one is surprised: where did all this sound mind come from? And where did all good memory go? Even the recipe of the "tear" is fragrant. And from the prepared cocktail, from its aroma, one can faint for a minute. I, for example, fainted.
Lavender 15 g
Verbena 15 g
"Forest Water" 30 g
Nail polish 2 g
Tooth elixir 150 g
Lemonade 150 g
This mixture should for twenty minutes be stirred with honeysuckle branch. Some people say that if necessary, the honeysuckle can be substituted by convolvulus. This is erroneous and criminal. You can cut me to pieces, but you won't force me to stir "Young communist girl's tear" with convolvulus - I'll stir it with honeysuckle. I break my sides with laughter when in my presence somebody stirs the "Young communist girl's tear" with convolvulus and not with honeysuckle...
But enough about the "tear". Now I offer you the last and the best. "The end of work is better than all prizes" - as the poet said. I offer you the cocktail "Bitch's Guts" - the drink eclipsing everything. What is the most beautiful thing in the world? - The struggle for the liberation of mankind . And this is even more beautiful (write it down):
Zhigulevskoye beer 100 g
Shampoo "Sadko" 30 g
Anti-dandruff medication "Resol" 70 g
Medication against sweaty feet 30 g
Desinsectal for extermination of small insects 20 g
This mixture is for one week kept over cigar tobacco and is then served...
I received some letters where the readers recommended filtering the tincture thus obtained. Those corrections and additions spring from weak imagination and lack of fantasy - that's where these stupid corrections come from...
And so, "Bitch's Gut" is served. Drink it with the appearance of the first star, by large gulps. After only two glasses of this cocktail one becomes so enspirited that you can come close and for the whole half an hour spit in his face from five feet - and he wouldn’t say anything to you...."

Spanalot, your nose is growing long.

The real issue in the dispute between the two countries is not being told in the MSM. The contract between the Ukraine and Russia for the sell of gas involves far more than simply delivering gas on the part of the Russians, and paying for it on the part of the Ukraine.

The Ukraine has admitted siphoning off huge amounts of Russian gas, and reselling it to the EU for market prices. This has been going on for years. Indeed, Yulia Tymoshenko increased her net worth by $11.5 billion DOLLARS in the 5 years when she was energy czar. Additionally, there is an audit going on now for 3 of the many years the Ukraine has admitted siphoning off gas. This is the real root of the energy conflict, and under the new contract the Ukraine is responsible for siphoning off gas. The Ukrainians oligarchs are extremely upset over this loss of cash, and are rebelling against the current government.

The Ukraine first broke the contract when they started siphoning gas. The Russians wanted to take the Ukrainians to the Swedish Court of Arbitration, and the Ukraine would have none of that. Russia offered the Ukraine gas at $160 per 1000 cubic meters, BUT also offered to up the transit fees to more than offset the increased cost. HOWEVER, the new offer also included penalties for siphoning off gas, and the Ukraine refused. Russia then upped the price to $230, which was the market price to most EU countries. (We currently pay $451 in the US.) In the end Russia got what it wanted, but also agreed to ship cheaper Turkman gas the Ukraine was able to negotiate.

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