Yatsenyuk wants to worsen Ukraine's energy shortage for political purposes
Moscow – Kyiv, February 17 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Shtamm) – The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine has opened a criminal case against officials from the Ministry of Energy. It claims that electricity is sold to Crimea at a lower price than purchased from Russia, and that Ukrainian power plants could cover almost the entire energy deficit themselves. However, canceling contracts with Inter RAO will be difficult: disputes over them can only be resolved in Moscow arbitration courts, Kommersant reports.
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In 2015, electricity supplies to Crimea, which is 80% dependent on Ukraine, are under the contract between Ukrinterenergo and Inter RAO dated December 30. It involves exports from Russia to Ukraine up to 1,5 GW. This will compensate for the energy shortage in Ukraine, which lacks coal.
Ukrinterenergo pays approximately 0,85 hryvnia per 1 kWh (2,07 rubles at the current exchange rate), which is lower than the average forecast price on the Ukrainian wholesale market (0,99 hryvnia per 1 kWh). The price of supplies to Crimea was not disclosed, but at the beginning of the year it was 2,99 rubles. for 1 kWh, Kommersant’s source reported.
But then Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk was not satisfied that Crimea was named in the contract as a federal district of the Russian Federation, and Moscow was chosen as the place for resolving conflicts. In addition, the Ministry of Energy had to explain why the price of supplies to Crimea fell by 15%.
The publication's source in the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies says that at a price of supply from Russia of 0,85 hryvnia per 1 kWh, energy is sold to Crimea for 0,72 hryvnia per 1 kWh. Moreover, energy is purchased that is not needed: 300 million kWh Of the 380 million kWh purchased in January, Ukraine could have produced it itself, but for the sake of the contract, production was deliberately reduced.
“If our Ukrainian partners don’t like Russian prices, we can increase them,” Dmitry Medvedev said at the end of January. In this case, disputes between the parties can only be resolved according to Russian law in the Moscow Arbitration Court.
The claims of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine are politically motivated, since imports from the Russian Federation this year actually made it possible to solve the problem of energy shortages - despite the fact that a large number of power units in Ukraine have been taken out of repair, experts say.
Yatsenyuk wants to worsen Ukraine's energy shortage for political purposes.