Ukraine: we live without Russian gas

The Ukrainian authorities announced that they do not plan to buy gas from Russia this year either. "We are negotiating with 10 major gas suppliers in Europe, - said the head of Naftogaz Andriy Kobolev, - this allows us to protect Ukraine in the coming heating season."

Since November, Ukraine has not bought gas from Russia. At first glance, this seems illogical, because Russia is the largest exporter of raw materials in the world, and for Ukraine, Russian sources of raw materials are the closest.

Nevertheless, everything determines the way of trading. It is known that relations between Kiev and Moscow are fatal. But the deal would probably not have been prevented if not for the fact that Moscow is demanding exorbitant gas prices from Kiev, according to some experts.

As a result, Kiev refused to purchase raw materials from Russia. Ukraine buys cheaper fuel in the countries of the European Union. The paradox of the situation is that most of them are still buying Russian gas. How is it possible that Kiev can buy gas cheaper with the participation of intermediaries?

Moscow gas prices are seen as a kind of reward and punishment. States that support the Kremlin can get significant price cuts. Consequently, the situation is absurd in which a major potential recipient of Russian gas, like Ukraine, should pay for it more than, for example, Serbia.

At the same time, Germany buys the largest volumes of crude. Last year Berlin bought more than 43 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia, although demand is determined at 30 billion cubic meters, the rest was sold at a profit to other countries.