April 5, 2014

Russia Demands Lease Refund After Invading Crimea

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Russia is threatening to nearly double the price of natural gas that it sells to Ukraine:

Russia’s natural gas monopoly Gazprom’s Chief Executive Alexei Miller said Saturday in a televised interview the company has raised the cost of gas to Ukraine to $485.50 from $268.50 for 1,000 cubic meters from April 1. Moscow says the price change is due to Kiev’s failure to pay its bills.

….Mr. Miller said Ukraine owes Gazprom $2.2 billion for March deliveries, and another $11.4 billion the country saved as part of a discount agreement that Moscow recently scrapped….Mr. Miller the discount was a prepayment for the Russian Navy’s use of Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Sevastopol through 2017, but as that port had been annexed by Moscow, along with the rest of Crimea, Ukraine should repay $11.4 billion it saved, Mr. Miller said, following similar statements by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

So Russia gave Ukraine $11.4 billion as a payment for its lease of naval facilities in Crimea through 2017. But now that they’ve invaded and conquered Crimea, they figure they deserve a refund. The mind boggles.

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