Posted on 10/25/2006 3:28:30 PM PDT by sergey1973
Ukraine will be paying Russia $130 per 1,000 cu. meters of gas in 2007, Russia’s Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov said in Kiev on Tuesday. The parties did not comment reports that Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich managed to secure moderate gas prices for his country in exchange for political trade-offs. In any case, successful talks with the Russian premier helped Viktor Yanukovich show his abilities in putting relations with Russia back on track.
(Excerpt) Read more at kommersant.com ...
Marginal costs to Russia per thousand cubic meters are in the neighborhood of $35. $130 (Revenue) - $35 (cost) = $95 (profit). That's a 270% return -- not too bad for Mr. Putin!
Well, look at it this way, though.
And remember, I have nothing but fondness for Ukraine and Ukrainians.
When I was there during the mid-1900s, Ukraine had already gone several years without paying a karbovanet, a single karbovanet, for natural gas from Russia.
Ukraine owed Russia lots and lots of money, and to this day I doubt Ukraine paid a kopek of it.
Perhaps Russia is trying to recoup some enormous losses.
I am no apologist for Russia, but at times I feel sorry for Russia, because even though in a weak and debilitated condition, Russia is still called upon by other portions of the former Soviet Union, so they may drain her dry, and scant gratitude Russia gets.
Gratitude has no business in foreign relations. If it did, Ukraine would still be expecting payment for the famine of 1932-33 in which 5-10 million Ukrainians died. I have personal biases against Ukraine (I grew up in what is now Ukraine) but I still don't believe the Ukrainians owe one копійка to anybody out of "gratitude."
LOL! If you believe that...! The marginal cost of producing and transporting one tcm of gas in Russia is only $35-40. If you think Putin's gazprom runs a charity, you're nuts. The big expense obviously was building the pipelines. But they've been built, those fixed costs sunk and recovered.
WHERE? NG production/transportation costs vary enormously depending on the region. Russian production is much less expensive than US.
"but at times I feel sorry for Russia,"
Tell that to the 100 million kiled by Communism in the last century.
What do you think the present value is of all the assets and food Russia stole from the Breadbasket of Ukraine in 1921 to 1947?
Thats a lot of chandeliers in those Moscow subways.
Can you explain the currency? What's a karbovanet in relation to a kopek in relation to a ruple? Is karbovanet similar to an American penny?
I disagree. It should, because there is PLENTY of resentment going around.
A "karbovanet" was Ukrainian money from 1991 until about 1996.
When it was first used in 1991, there were 2 karbovanets to the American dollar.
By the time I arrived in Ukraine, there were 8,000 karbovanets to the American dollar.
By the time I left Ukraine, there were 400,000 karbovanets to the American dollar.
The "karbovanet" was replaced by some other currency (again, valued at 2 to the American dollar), the name of which starts with an "h," but I forget what it is, and I have no idea if it is still worth 2 to the American dollar.
Much appreciated.
What do you think the present value is of all the assets and food Russia stole from the Breadbasket of Ukraine in 1921 to 1947?
That's a lot of chandeliers in those Moscow subways.
Well, no, I cannot deny that Russia stole a great deal from Ukraine, including millions of human lives.
But at the moment, Russia is bankrupt, destitute, poor, devastated, ruined, and so surely Russia is paying for its sins.
It does no good for a young pig to milk at the teat of a nearly-dead sow, is what I had meant in my original comment. The young pig does not get real nourishment, and the nearly-dead sow becomes even more emaciated.
>I cannot deny that Russia stole
Not Russia but USSR and communists who ruled it. There were next to zero Russians in Soviet government.
Also, Ukraine as separate entity was established by Soviet government. It was just western part of Russia prior to commies.
Ah yes, the old "the Jews were running everything" canard. That nonsense is as repetitive as it is inaccurate, nonsensical and offensive.
You can start proving your point by naming Russians in Soviet government.
BTW, I don't blame Jews, i even don't blame anyone.
All i want is spanalot and the likes to stop spreading racistic statements about Russian nation.
Are you kidding me? I'll argue with you on Lenin (who was definitely Russian, despite claims to the contrary). How about Krushchev, Brezhnev, Kalinin, Chernenko, Gorbachev, Molotov, Yeltsin... do I really have to go on?
BTW, you are on record as stating that Ukrainians are ethnic Russians.
You MIGHT have a case arguing that ethnic Russians were a somewhat underrepresented in the 1917 revolution's top leadership (although the overwhelming majority of its rank and file). But Russians were firmly in charge from the 1920s on. Under Stalin, virtually all non-Russians were purged from leadership positions, with the exception of the Georgian Beria and the Jewish Kaganovich. The dominance of ethnic Russians only increased thereafter.
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