“Deadlock”: Donbass Blockade Risks Plunging the Ukraine into Energy Collapse

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On Friday, Ukrainian President P A Poroshenko enacted a decree earlier adopted by the National Security and Defence Council on diversification of coal supply sources and creating reserves of power generating coal. In addition, the Council also decided to tighten control over the products’ movement in the Donbass region. It mandated that the government develop measures to neutralise threats to Ukrainian energy security and imposing a ban on anthracite exports from Ukraine. It also puts the government in charge of rebuilding transportation infrastructure damaged during the military operation in the Donbass.

In late December 2016, a so-called Ukrainian “volunteer fighters group” declared a trade and economic blockade of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and Lugansk People’s Republic (LNR). According to the group, any trade operations with the LNR or DNR are illegal. The blockade resulted in disruptions in anthracite shipments from the Donbass Peoples Republics and forced the Ukraine to introduce a state of emergency in the energy sector. On Monday, Energy Minister I S Nasalik said that the country’s reserves of coal for energy-generating power plants might dry up in 45 days if they don’t lift the blockade. Russian journalist and industrial expert Leonid Khazanov emphasised:

The measures Kiev is taking are insufficient to resolve the energy conundrum. The Ukraine is risking plunging into an energy catastrophe, with everything that implies for its people and the Ukrainian industrial sector. However, if [the government] wanted to fight radicals they would’ve taken real measures, not just a decree. It seems that President Poroshenko has no control over the situation on the railways or he fears an escalation. Kiev could compensate for the coal shortage with supplies from Russia and other countries. However, the Ukraine lacks financial resources and the West is unlikely to come to its help in this situation. The question now is where to buy coal. One option is to buy supplies from Russia. Other variants include other foreign markets, but they’re more expensive than shipments from the Donbass or Russia. If the Ukraine decides to find other foreign suppliers, not all of them would agree to work with Kiev due to its financial difficulties. The Ukraine doesn’t have the money to afford such shipments. They could ask for help from the IMF or the USA. However, I don’t think they would give them the money. Western politicians are pragmatic. What can Poroshenko give them in exchange? His loyalty [to the West] isn’t enough. The situation in the Ukrainian energy sector is in deadlock. Maybe Kiev should initiate dialogue with the Donbass or ask help from Russia, but Kiev-Moscow ties are very tense now. As I see it, the Ukraine is nearly at a standstill.

19 February 2017

Sputnik International

https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702191050837470-ukraine-donbass-energy-crisis/

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Kiev’s Sanctions Against Russia Backfire On Ukrainian Economy

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The Ukrainian government fined Russian airline companies over 28 million USD (1.77 billion Roubles. 188.81 million Renminbi. 1.88 billion INR. 37.51 million CAD. 36.85 million AUD. 25.49 million Euros. 22.97 million UK Pounds) for operating flights to the Crimea. Ukrainian aviation authorities issued over 5,000 rulings on violations of the flight ban to Crimea. In particular, it opened over 1,000 fines-related cases against Aeroflot. Recently, the company announced it’d launch Sochi-Simferopol flights next year. At the same time, the agency said that Russian airline companies have not paid a single fine so far. The Crimea reunited with Russia after a referendum in March 2017. Almost 97 percent of the region’s population voted for reunification. The Ukraine, the EU, and the USA didn’t recognise the move and consider it occupied territory. After the referendum, Kiev suspended aerial, railway, and bus transport with the peninsula. In September 2015, Kiev decided to introduce sanctions against Russian airlines operating flights to Crimea. Andrei Suzdaltsev, the deputy head of the Faculty of World Economic and International Relations at the Moscow-based Higher School of Economics told us:

The Ukraine damages its own economy by acting economically against Russia. The Ukraine punishes itself severely and for the long-term. The situation is dangerous for Kiev. Currently, the country is struggling to receive money and investments. The Ukrainian economy badly needs money. However, the best indicator of the Ukrainian business climate is relations with Russia. Russia is the main market for the Ukraine. The idea was that the Ukraine would turn to the West, but use Russian money, resources, and energy supplies. Now, Kiev appears to be punishing itself with its anti-Russian economic moves. The situation over control of the Crimean skies is madness. It’s a very touchy problem… who controls the sky over the Crimea? In fact, Russia is in charge because the Crimea is part of Russia. The West unofficially admits this because no one wants to have an uncontrolled airspace, but the actual situation is madness. There’s a special agency in the Ukraine on Crimean issues. It tracks each flight to the peninsula. The Ukraine complains non-stop. Sometimes, the situation turns into a joke. Kiev imposed sanctions on companies constructing the Russian bridge to the Crimea. These sanctions have nothing to do with aerial communication.

30 October 2016

Sputnik International

https://sputniknews.com/business/201610301046888761-ukraine-russia-crimea-sanctions/

Editor:

The Ukraine is Cloud-Cuckoo Land in the flesh. There’s little food on the shelves… the power flickers on and off… there’s been no hot water for months… but the oligarchs and perfumed nationalists all have mansions, armed flunkies, and money in foreign banks. Of course, it’s unstable in the extreme… Porky had best have a good bolthole. The USA won’t pull his fat out of the fire. He’ll end either dead or as a fixture at Bound Brook or Toronto banquets of Galician diehards. I hope that Russia liberates Kiev soon… it’ll put an end to the suffering of the ordinary people. Mark it well that the Galician Uniate and “Ukrainian Orthodox” loudmouths don’t care about the ordinary people’s suffering… they have their “Ukraine”… thank God that it’s not long for this world…

BMD

Cash-Strapped Ukrainians Buy Expired Food Following Economic “Experiment”

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The Ukrainian news website Vesti reported that since the Ukrainian economic crisis in Ukraine shows no sign of improvement, the past few weeks saw more and more ordinary people buy expired food products. On 1 October, the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers temporarily abolished state regulation of prices for food products, which the authorities claim is an experiment allegedly aimed at helping them find out more about the effectiveness and feasibility of price controls. The government decided to scrap the maximum trade mark-up, which ranged between 10 and 15 percent, for goods deemed socially important. The measure will remain in force until 31 December. It means that, until the end of the year, entrepreneurs are free to hike the prices of staple goods including bread, milk, butter, eggs, sugar, pasta, and many other products. the Russian news website Lenta.ru reported that Ukrainians rushed to buy expired food, including milk, sausage, cheese, and croissants, to save money, enticed by smooth operators on the internet. Lenta.ru quoted an unnamed seller from Kremenchug as saying:

I’m selling expired sausages, frankfurters, and wieners. Pay attention to the fact that the products aren’t spoiled.

Prices for such food are cheaper than they are for fresh products, with businessmen preferring to sell expired food at urban markets and even spontaneously formed selling points. Lenta.ru also quoted Maksim Nesmiyanov, the head of the Ukraine’s Union of Consumers, as saying that milk products and ketchup are a dime a dozen at the marketplaces, where they’re mostly purchased by pensioners. Meanwhile, according to statistics, food prices in the Ukraine increased by about 10 percent since the beginning of this year, whilst the population’s purchasing power tumbled 20 percent within the same period.

23 October 2016

Sputnik International

https://sputniknews.com/europe/201610231046637278-ukraine-crisis-expired-food/

Ex-Finance Minister sez the Ukraine Already in Default

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On Saturday, ex-Ukrainian Finance Minister V M Pinzennik admitted that since the Ukrainian government is trying to restructure the state debt, it means that it’s already in default. Pinzennik, now a Rada Peoples Deputy (Vitaly Klitchko’s UDAR bloc), said on Kiev-based TV outlet 112 Ukraina, “Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko botched negotiations with creditors, but even if she hadn’t, this wouldn’t stave off the inevitable. I think that the main problem that the Ukraine now faces is the cause of the current economic crisis. Restructuring the debt won’t solve the main problem, which is the budget deficit. Everyone believes that by restructuring the debt we’d solve all our problems. I don’t think so. The main trouble is that this country spends more than it earns”.

16 August 2015

Sputnik International

http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150816/1025800458.html