Ukraina valde Ryssland före EU - stora protester som följd, länkar i inlägg2

Crimean authorities took control of Ukraine's Black Sea and Sea of Azov oil and gas fields off the coast of the peninsula.

The speaker of Crimea's parliament Volodymyr Konstantinov told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti that the Russian companies including energy giant Gazprom should be involved in extracting the resources.

In 2013 the company Chernomorgazneft extracted 1.65 B cubic meters gas, most of which was in the Black Sea and in the Sea of Azov. According to estimates, the total gas reserves off the Crimean coast are nearly two trillion cubic meters and the oil reserves are around 430 M tons.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshchenko met her counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow where they signed a new gas agreement on January 19th. The deal allowed for gas supplies to continue, yet it did not save the famous-mane princess of the Orange Revolution from facing the wrath of her political opponents back home.

Under the new contract, Ukraine pays Russia $450 per 35,314 cubic feet of gas.

“This is obviously unfair. I’m sure that those who signed this agreement and accepted these terms will have to answer for their actions,” the Ukrainian president was quoted as saying, adding that $450 was “an exorbitant price.”

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“Ukraine is in dire economic straits,” said a high-profile Ukrainian businessman, who formerly served as a deputy minister in the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, and who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity. “And there are some members of the opposition who think that Ukraine will have to make some uncomfortable decisions, and this may involve future swap deals with its Russian neighbor.”

The businessman then alluded to informal talks between “politically active individuals” that would grant Russia long-term use Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula, which includes Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, in return for an undisclosed annual amount of Russian gas and oil supplies to Ukraine.

“I was not present at the alleged talks,” the source said via telephone, “but I was informed that the talks focused on the idea of swapping Russian oil and gas supplies in return for Ukraine granting Russia a 99-year lease of the Crimea Peninsula.”

Mr Firtash, as a former co-owner along with Gazprom of Swiss-registered RosUkrEnergo, controlled gas supplies to Ukraine and a substantial share of exports to European markets.
His close associates held high-level positions in the government of toppled Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich, including former energy minister Yuriy Boyko and former presidential chief of staff Serhiy Lyovochkin.

According to multiple sources, Mr Firtash had joint business interests with Russian billionaire Arkady Rotenberg, reportedly Mr Putin’s close friend and former judo sparring partner.
Although Mr Firtash was not on a list of EU sanctions targets issued last week, EU diplomats said they have been working to expand the list beyond the original 18, which included Mr Yanukovich, his son, and other close associates.

Mr Firtash’s London connections have come in for scrutiny before. Senior Conservatives, including the offices of Baroness Neville-Jones and Robert Halfon, the Tory MP, have received tens of thousands of pounds in donations from Scythian Ltd, a company part-controlled by Robert Shetler-Jones, who has represented Mr Firtash in London in the past.

Mr Halfon said he had received the donations because of the support of Mr Shetler-Jones and did not know anything about Mr Firtash or his activities. Baroness Neville-Jones could not be reached for comment.

There is another fear factor driving the Kremlin's seemingly unstoppable campaign to undermine Ukraine's revolution.

It is the worry that a successful revolution on its border would bolster opposition groups in Russia itself, strengthening their belief that mass protests against authoritarian governments can ultimately succeed.

So Moscow's harsh response on the ground in Crimea and its much propagated narrative that revolution leads to chaos and fascism, serve as a warning to the people of Russia themselves.