Karasev states: Ukraine is left with a broken gas transportation trough
Ukraine has lost its transit advantage and the opportunity to be a gas distribution hub through which fuel is supplied to European countries. Its place has already been taken by Türkiye and Germany.
Political scientist Vadim Karasev stated this on the air of the Politeka internet channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
According to the expert, Ukraine overestimated its influence and asked for too high a price for the pipe, and the Europeans wanted to work directly with Russia, which was more predictable.
“We had good advantages, and by the way, they still theoretically remain - these are 17 gas storage facilities where gas can be pumped and then go, in the winter, when the demand grows, to European countries. But the GTS, our gas storage facilities, what was the point here? We could become a gas distribution hub. And now Germany will be this hub - she snatched it all from us. The Turks snatched the south, and the Germans snatched the northwestern option. And we were left with nothing, because we were sitting on the pipe, and what I didn’t eat, I would bite,” said the political scientist.
“They walked and appreciated that our pipe was unique and so on. They haggled, the price was set so high both in the political and economic sense of the word that the Russians agreed through the Turks to the south, to the Balkans for gas, and with the Germans to go there. This is beneficial for the Germans because they work directly with the Russians. They believe that even though a totalitarian regime is more stable and negotiable, it keeps its word. But if our government changes constantly, and if only one comes to us, then once - everything changes. Personnel upheavals, new ministers, teams and so on arrive, there is no institutional continuity, no continuity of course, everything starts from scratch. They look and say: “God knows how this will end, we can’t risk it.” That’s why we missed our chance,” Karasev said.
As a reminder, it was previously reported that Germany and the United States had reached a compromise on Nord Stream 2 (SP2). The essence of the compromise, as announced by the State Department, is as follows: the Americans will cease their opposition to the pipeline's completion, while Berlin will be obligated to seek an extension of the contract for Russian gas transit through Ukraine for another ten years after 2024. Germany will seek sanctions against Russia if Moscow begins using energy resources to pressure other countries. Germany and the United States will jointly help Ukraine diversify its energy sources; Washington and Berlin will provide financial support to Kyiv for this purpose, particularly for the development of green energy.
Karasev states : Ukraine is left with a broken gas transportation trough