Gazprom Turns Up Heat On Kiev With $11bn Bill

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Sky News

Russia's energy giant Gazprom has hit Ukraine with a new $11.4bn (£6.8bn) gas bill - more than five times its original claim.

Gas supply has become a key economic weapon used by Moscow against its near-neighbour amid EU claims it can divert supplies to Ukraine.

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Reuters reported that a Gazprom source said the new £6.8bn bill was on top of $2.2bn (£1.3bn) it said Ukraine's Naftogaz already owes for usage in last year and in 2014.

It is understood said the new bill, up more than 500% on top of the original, was sent to Naftogaz on Wednesday and based on a failure to meet a "take or pay" supply clause.

Russia's Interfax news agency said Gazprom deputy chief executive Alexander Medvedev revealed the additional bill while on a trip to Paris.

Read more: http://news.sky.com/story/1248410/gazprom-turns-up-heat-on-kiev-with-11bn-bill

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. Ukraine has handled this entire mess with the deftness of

a Sen. Cruz working on a compromise budget with a billionaire tax increase, or a Sarah Palin dealing with a complex quantum mechanical equation that describes gravity waves.

Unfortunately, our presence and input there has been marred by our PNAC neocon State Department assholes, who have made things, if possible, even worse.

I do not understand why Obama keeps those assholes on board. Perhaps Hillary has some splainin to do.

[AgingAmerican]

2. Ultranationalists dealing with ultranationalists

...nothing could go wrong there...

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. Turds of a feather, and all that.

Yeah. Absolutely nothing can go wrong.

[Xolodno]

4. Heh...maybe they were the only Republicans willing to "work together".

...so administration drank the cool aide.

Meanwhile....the sanctions could go bye-bye.

http://news.yahoo.com/russian-memo-wto-says-u-sanctions-illegal-102601577--sector.html

Russian memo to WTO says U.S. sanctions are illegal

By Tom Miles

GENEVA (Reuters) - Russia has told the United States that its Ukraine-related sanctions on a Russian bank and Russian citizens are illegal under World Trade Organization rules and must be scrapped.

Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said last week that Russia could launch a dispute at the world trade body to challenge U.S. sanctions.

The latest warning, set out in a confidential document circulated at the WTO on Wednesday, explained what grounds Russia would have for doing so and made clear that Moscow believes it would win a trade dispute if it launched one.
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Read an article the other day where Kerry said that diplomacy was easier under the Cold War. Russia is part of the global club now, can't just start punishing it back in the good 'ole days.