Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Ukraine was on the verge of bankruptcy on Thursday, but assured that Moscow would not push its ex-Soviet neighbour over the edge with high fines for not consuming allocated gas, according to local news agencies.
“They (Ukraine) are on the verge of bankruptcy and as you well know you should not finish off your partners,” Putin said during a visit to a mine in the Siberian town of Novokuznetsk, state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Ukraine has an allocated 40 billion cubic metres og gas consumption but with the economy under severe strain consumption has plunged in recent months. According to agreements, Moscow would be entitled to cash in on hefty fines, which according to Putin will not happen. Ukraine has asked Russia to accept a reduction to 33 billion cubi metres.
Russia and Ukraine were locked in a protracted gas dispute in January that resulted in a cut in Russian gas deliveries for two weeks to a dozen European Union countries amid a cold winter spell.
Earlier this week, Putin cast doubt on Ukraine’s reliability as a gas transit country after the Ukrainian security service, which answers to Yushchenko, raided the headquarters of the state company earlier this month.
Image by rightee under Creative Commons.
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