A typical gas consuming family, the Zubshenkos live in a small apartment in a poor, worn down part of the Ukranian capital Kiev. Pavlo, Maryana and their three children, Maria, Ivan and little Olessa.
They are completely dependant on natural gas. Gas for the stove, the central heating and the hot water.
There are no meters for the gas - nobody knows how much gas each family is using. You pay according to how many people are registred on the address. And you don't pay very much.
October first the city authorities turn on the central heating - May first they turn it off. Heaters have no thermostats - if it gets too hot in the winter, the only solution is to open the windows. Wasting energy is an old, soviet tradition.
INTERVIEW: PAVLO ZUBSHENKO, KIEV
(- Central heating 45,7 hryvna, hot water 60 hryvna and for cooking 9,45. For one month? Yes, for a month.)
The total gas bill - heating, hot water and the stove - is less than 120 ukrainian gryvna per month - a little less than 25 dollars.
Salaries in Ukraine are low, but this gas price is one of the lowest in Europe. And not just private consumers benefit from the cheap gas - also the large chemical plants and metal factories in Ukraine enjoy cheap gas for their production.
INTERVIEW: IGOR LUTSENKO, EDITOR FINANCIAL MAGAZINE "VLAST DJENEG" (the power of money)
(- It's a soviet tradition, but it's also an extremely populistic policy for ukrainian politicians to give away gas to the people. The price of gas in Ukraine is one of the lowest in eastern Europe.)
The result is runaway consumption - Ukraine is burning off more natural gas than Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Chech Republic together! And gas consumption is increasing year after year.
Ukrainians are becoming more and more dependant on the millions of cubic meters of natural gas flowing into the country every day through these pipelines - all the way from Russia...
(music)
This man has a plan for Russias vast oil- and gas-reserves.
Vladimir Putin had the plan even before he became president of the Russian Federation. He then wrote a dissertation on how Russia could become a world superpower once again - by using its energy ressources. The government should take control of the oil and gas industry, he wrote - and use it in the interest of the state.
This plan is now being put into effect. The Russian government controls the huge gas company Gazprom - and neighboring countries, who have tried to break away from Russian influenze, have experienced a dramatic increase in the price of Russian gas - for instance Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine - all completely dependant on gas from Russia.
Critics claim that Russia is using natural gas as a political weapon.
(into the helicopter - music)
To visit Russias enormous gas-reserves, one has to travel across some of the toughest and most remote parts of the world.
Normally this area is out of bounds for journalists. The Russian authorities consider the gas sources areas of strategic importance that require a special permission to enter.
Here - in the bitter cold of the endless sibirian tundra - Russia pumps up its natural gas.
The region is called the Jamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. It's twice as big as Germany, but sparsely populated. Half a million people live here, most of them working with oil and gas.
INTERVIEW: VICTOR OSIPOV, CHIEF ENGINEER NADYM FIELD
(- Four years ago there was nothing here, but as you can see that has all changed. We now extract one million tonnes a year)
Almost 90 percent of Russias present production of natural gas comes from this area, the Nadym Field.
The 200 men who work here live in barracks near the pumping station. They work for a month, then they're off for a month.
The temperature is minus 33 and not only people, but also trucks and machinery have to keep warm in order to work in these conditions.
In January the temperature went down to minus 57 and minus 63 was recorded a few years back.
INTERVIEW: VICTOR OSIPOV, CHIEF ENGINEER NADYM FIELD
(- The worst is not the cold, but the drifting snow when the wind is hard. When visibility is less than 10 meters and you can't see anything, that's a problem. But the frost is also a problem of course.)
Already in soviet times oil and gas was extracted in the region - with great difficulty.
In reality, Nadym is completely cut of for most of the year. Spring, summer and fall, when the ice and snow melts and turns everything into mud, the only way to travel is by plane or helicopter. In winter it all freezes solid again.
From the sources in Nadym the pipelines stretch towards Europe.
INTERVIEW: ALEXANDER MATVIENKO, NADYM
(- From here to the border they stretch app. 3.000 km. Then they go on abroad - I don't for how many kilometers, but they go as far as France and the English Channel.)
From Nadym billions of cubic meters of gas is pumped to Europe through the worlds largest net of pipelines.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI KUPRIANOV, SPOKESMAN FOR GAZPROM
(- Gradually we will develop new fields and new regions. But right now and for a long time to come the Nadym region will be our most important region.)
Gazprom is the worlds largest producer of natural gas. The company owns one fifth of the worlds known gas reserves .
All figures concerning Gazprom are astronomical. In one single day in January Gazprom shares went up by 23 billion dollars - more than the amount that caused the whole Russian economy to collapse in 1998!
No other Russian company can match that.
President Putin has a firm grip on Gazprom. The federal government is the majority shareholder and the Kremlin has its people placed on the board of directors. The chairman of the board is at the same time deputy prime minister and president Putins special advisor.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI STROKAN, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, NEWSPAPER "KOMMERSANT"
(- Is Gazprom part of Kremlin or a private company? We independant journalists and analysts here sometimes say that Gazprom is the new foreign ministry of Russia. Gazprom enters the stage when foreign policy decisions have to be taken.)
It can be very difficult to distinguish between the political interest of the Kremlin and the economic interest of Gazprom.
In the beginning of 2006 Gazprom shut down delivery of natural gas to Ukraine for two days - officially over a price dispute. The "gas war" showed the world what a powerful political instrument natural gas can be.
INTERVIEW: MYKOLA MARTINENKO, MEMBER OF PARLAMENT AND DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE ENERGY COMMITEE OF THE UKRAINIAN PARLAMENT
(- By the end of last year Russia suggested a price that was five times the price for example Germany pays for Russian gas. Of course we were chocked. It called for negotiations, which were entered, but Ukraine was facing a real threat of having its gas supply cut off in the middle of the winter period.)
The message was that the price of gas would go up from 50 dollars to 230 dollars per one thousand cubic meters. A price that - according to some western experts - would completely upset the Ukrainean economy.
But what really shook the ukrainians was that that massage didn't come from the gas supplier Gazprom, but from the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin.
INTERVIEW: MYKOLA MARTINENKO, MEMBER OF PARLAMENT AND DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE ENERGY COMMITEE OF THE UKRAINIAN PARLAMENT
(- When president Putin and not the chairman of Gazprom is stating the price, it's not a normal situation. We first heard about the new price from president Putin on TV.)
Mr. Martinenko is deputy chairman of the Energy Commitee of the Ukranian Parlament. He has no doubt that the price was a political decision.
INTERVIEW: MYKOLA MARTINENKO, MEMBER OF PARLAMENT AND DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE ENERGY COMMITEE OF THE UKRAINIAN PARLAMENT
(- The underlying cause was political. When a president - in this case the Russian president - comments on the price of gas it is no longer business. Businessmen deal with business. It's politics.)
(Singing)
Ever since the "Orange Revolution" in Ukraine - which brought down the pro-russian government and brought to power Victor Jushenko, the opposition leader - relations between Russia and the former soviet republic of Ukraine have been strained.
INTERVIEW: IGOR LUTSENKO, EDITOR FINANCIAL MAGAZINE "VLAST DJENEG" (the power of money)
(- Putins decision to make the price 230 dollars, his political decision, was like saying to Jushenko "I do not like you". 230 - I do not like you.)
Gazproms position is that Ukraine - and other former soviet republics - have been getting the gas at unreasonably low prices and that they will have to pay the market price.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI KUPRIANOV, SPOKESMAN FOR GAZPROM
(- The decision last year to raise the gas prices was made because it was no longer economically sound to go on with the very low prices)
But what is the market price for natural gas? Hmm that's not so easy to decide. Contrary to oil, which has a fixed price on the world market, gas has no market price.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI STROKAN, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, RUSSIAN NEWSPAPER "KOMMERSANT"
(- There is no market price for gas. It's a paradox! Gas is a commodity and thus should have a market price. But here in this country there is no market price for gas. That's why all talks of market price for gas is just a window dressing.
Just take a map and look at the neighboring republics and how much they pay for natural gas. And you will discover that for every country there is a different market price for gas.
We can make a conclusion that the so-called market price for gas is a combination of quite many factors. Not only economical but also political.)
Former soviet republics like Georgia and Ukraine have recently broken the strong bonds of the past with Russia - and have both experienced sudden stops in the supply of natural gas from Russia while arguing over demands for a higher price.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI STROKAN, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, NEWSPAPER "KOMMERSANT"
(- Finally the price takes into consideration the degree of political loyalty to president Putin. This is a factor that is carefully emitted by the Kremlin, but this factor - along with other factors - is also included into the market price for gas.)
The president of Belarussia, Lukashenko, is loyal to Putin and Russia. He has been able to keep the very low gas price. But at a price - Belarussia has given up the countrys entire pipeline grid to Gazprom - in return for the ridiculously low gas price.
Gazprom actually offered Ukraine the same deal - cheap gas for pipelines - but they turned it down. For - according to many Ukrainians - the huge net of pipelines is the countrys most important asset in the power game with Russia.
80-90 percent of Russias natural gas exports pass through the ukrainian pipes. Kompressor stations make sure that pressure and temperature is kept at the right level.
Through these Ukrainian pipelines Gazprom is the main supplier of natural gas to Europe - especially eastern Europe.
Gazprom supplies 40% of Germanys gas, 65% of the gas in Poland and Bulgaria, 70% of the gas in Hungary, 80% of the gas in Ukraine and the Chech Republic and almost all of the gas that is used in Austria, Slovakia, Belarussia and the Baltic States.
(end of graphics)
In other words - Ukraine is not the only country in Europe which is dependant on Russian gas. But as a transit country Ukraine has the advantage that Gazprom cannot close down the gas supply completely without at the same time cutting of the gas they are obliged to supply to customers further on down the line.
When Gazprom in January reduced the amount of gas supplied to the Ukrainian pipeline grid, the Ukrainians didn't feel any difference - they just drew from the gas that was supposed to go on to countries like Poland, Austria and Hungary.
INTERVIEW: PAVLO ZUBSHENKO, KIEV
(- The temperature was lower, temperature of the radiators.
So the temperature went down - but apart from that you didn't feel any change? You had gas for the stove?
Yes, we had. There was gas.)
INTERVIEW: VOLODYMYR RUDKO, CHIEF OF GAS COMPRESSOR STATION BOYARKA (KIEV)
(- There was gas in the pipelines. There was a minor drop in pressure which led to some compressor stations in this area shutting down, but the ukrainian consumers didn't feel anything.)
The "gas war" ended with a victory for Gazprom. A weak and politically inexperienced Ukrainian government gave in and accepted the higher price. Not the 230 dollars per one thousand cubic meters that president Putin originally suggested, but still double the price they had paid before.
INTERVIEW: MYKOLA MARTINENKO, MEMBER OF PARLAMENT AND DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE ENERGY COMMITEE OF THE UKRAINIAN PARLAMENT
(- The chain of events between Ukraine and Russia over the price of gas must make other European countries consider their relations to Russia, when it comes to gas. It should be clear to the west now that natural gas is being used as a political weapon.)
Gazprom rejects the notion of gas as a political weapon.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI KUPRIANOV, SPOKESMAN FOR GAZPROM
(- This was a very successful ..eh.. journalistic PR-stunt, when the term "gas a political weapon" was launched. It was an expression that unfortunately came up in connection with the Ukrainian problems. One should forget that, for in reality - when it comes to the supply of gas - the most important thing for a company like ours that work with a long term perspective is to secure a stable supply for our partners.)
For Ukraine the "gas war" was a tough lesson.
INTERVIEW: MYKOLA MARTINENKO, MEMBER OF PARLAMENT AND DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE ENERGY COMMITEE OF THE UKRAINIAN PARLAMENT
(- For Ukraine it's not good to have all our gas come from just one supplier. We have no diversification when it comes to energy - and at the same time we unfortunately have a very large consumption.)
(music)
The worlds need for energy is expected to go up by 50% in the next 20 years. That is going to have a great impact on geopolitical relations and American intelligence sources consider that energy and the supply of energy will become a dominant factor in foreign policy.
INTERVIEW: IGOR LUTSENKO, EDITOR FINANCIAL MAGAZINE "VLAST DJENEG" (the power of money)
(- I think Europa can learn several things. First of all that Europe will be next after Ukraine. Second that Europe should act as one consumer of Russian gas in order to oppose Russia. Because one country cannot oppose the power of Gazprom.
Gazprom is getting very brutal, for instance with Moldova and Georgia. And I think the European countries will be next. )
INTERVIEW: MYKOLA MARTINENKO, MEMBER OF PARLAMENT AND DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE ENERGY COMMITEE OF THE UKRAINIAN PARLAMENT
(- One cannot rule out that Germany, Italy or France, who are the big consumers of gas in Europe, suddenly will be met with a price of 800 dollars for gas at the same time there is minus 30 degrees in the alps. This is entirely realistic.)
Gazprom is aware of its strong position in the market.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI KUPRIANOV, SPOKESMAN FOR GAZPROM
(- In the near future there is no serious alternative to Russia. No other country has the gas resources that we have. )
Gazprom is building a new pipeline, The North European Gas Pipeline, to be completed by 2010. It will go through the Baltic Sea, directly from Russia to Germany without having to transit Ukraine or other tiresome intermediates.
To lead this great project Gazprom has hired no other than the former german chancellor, Gerhard Schroder. Back home in Germany, Schroder is facing serious criticism over his job with Gazprom - among other things because as a chancellor he was involved in securing economic guarantees for the project.
Critics claim that the new pipeline will make Germany even more dependant on Russian gas than before.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI STROKAN, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, NEWSPAPER "KOMMERSANT"
(- There is a danger. If Europe really accepts the concept of the North European Gas Pipeline as a "historic project that will change the face of Europe" - this is what official propaganda in Moscow and Berlin is saying - then of course it will be dependance with all its consequences. But still, there is time.)
Gazprom is warning Europe that they have other interested costumers. Russia just signed a deal with energy-hungry China to build two gas pipelines from the gas fields in Sibiria.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI KUPRIANOV, SPOKESMAN FOR GAZPROM
(- Today the market for energy resources is the foundation for economic development in all countries. That's why we think that with the resources and the experience of Gazprom and - of course - our strategy, we will be able to take a worthy place among the worlds biggest energy companies and states.)
This summer the G8 will meet in Sct.Petersburg. A summit that the Kremlin hopes will bring president Putin one step closer to making Russia a superpower once again. This time using gas and oil.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI STROKAN, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, NEWSPAPER "KOMMERSANT"
(- If Europe adopts Putins scenario, as it will be voiced at the G8 meeting: "Just be quiet, we have plenty of gas and oil, we are close to you, we will sell it to you. Trust us. Sign contracts for 10-15 years. Don't look for any alternative sources" - and if Europe deprives itself of alternative sources it may become a younger sister of Russia. It's up to you.)
END
They are completely dependant on natural gas. Gas for the stove, the central heating and the hot water.
There are no meters for the gas - nobody knows how much gas each family is using. You pay according to how many people are registred on the address. And you don't pay very much.
October first the city authorities turn on the central heating - May first they turn it off. Heaters have no thermostats - if it gets too hot in the winter, the only solution is to open the windows. Wasting energy is an old, soviet tradition.
INTERVIEW: PAVLO ZUBSHENKO, KIEV
(- Central heating 45,7 hryvna, hot water 60 hryvna and for cooking 9,45. For one month? Yes, for a month.)
The total gas bill - heating, hot water and the stove - is less than 120 ukrainian gryvna per month - a little less than 25 dollars.
Salaries in Ukraine are low, but this gas price is one of the lowest in Europe. And not just private consumers benefit from the cheap gas - also the large chemical plants and metal factories in Ukraine enjoy cheap gas for their production.
INTERVIEW: IGOR LUTSENKO, EDITOR FINANCIAL MAGAZINE "VLAST DJENEG" (the power of money)
(- It's a soviet tradition, but it's also an extremely populistic policy for ukrainian politicians to give away gas to the people. The price of gas in Ukraine is one of the lowest in eastern Europe.)
The result is runaway consumption - Ukraine is burning off more natural gas than Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Chech Republic together! And gas consumption is increasing year after year.
Ukrainians are becoming more and more dependant on the millions of cubic meters of natural gas flowing into the country every day through these pipelines - all the way from Russia...
(music)
This man has a plan for Russias vast oil- and gas-reserves.
Vladimir Putin had the plan even before he became president of the Russian Federation. He then wrote a dissertation on how Russia could become a world superpower once again - by using its energy ressources. The government should take control of the oil and gas industry, he wrote - and use it in the interest of the state.
This plan is now being put into effect. The Russian government controls the huge gas company Gazprom - and neighboring countries, who have tried to break away from Russian influenze, have experienced a dramatic increase in the price of Russian gas - for instance Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine - all completely dependant on gas from Russia.
Critics claim that Russia is using natural gas as a political weapon.
(into the helicopter - music)
To visit Russias enormous gas-reserves, one has to travel across some of the toughest and most remote parts of the world.
Normally this area is out of bounds for journalists. The Russian authorities consider the gas sources areas of strategic importance that require a special permission to enter.
Here - in the bitter cold of the endless sibirian tundra - Russia pumps up its natural gas.
The region is called the Jamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. It's twice as big as Germany, but sparsely populated. Half a million people live here, most of them working with oil and gas.
INTERVIEW: VICTOR OSIPOV, CHIEF ENGINEER NADYM FIELD
(- Four years ago there was nothing here, but as you can see that has all changed. We now extract one million tonnes a year)
Almost 90 percent of Russias present production of natural gas comes from this area, the Nadym Field.
The 200 men who work here live in barracks near the pumping station. They work for a month, then they're off for a month.
The temperature is minus 33 and not only people, but also trucks and machinery have to keep warm in order to work in these conditions.
In January the temperature went down to minus 57 and minus 63 was recorded a few years back.
INTERVIEW: VICTOR OSIPOV, CHIEF ENGINEER NADYM FIELD
(- The worst is not the cold, but the drifting snow when the wind is hard. When visibility is less than 10 meters and you can't see anything, that's a problem. But the frost is also a problem of course.)
Already in soviet times oil and gas was extracted in the region - with great difficulty.
In reality, Nadym is completely cut of for most of the year. Spring, summer and fall, when the ice and snow melts and turns everything into mud, the only way to travel is by plane or helicopter. In winter it all freezes solid again.
From the sources in Nadym the pipelines stretch towards Europe.
INTERVIEW: ALEXANDER MATVIENKO, NADYM
(- From here to the border they stretch app. 3.000 km. Then they go on abroad - I don't for how many kilometers, but they go as far as France and the English Channel.)
From Nadym billions of cubic meters of gas is pumped to Europe through the worlds largest net of pipelines.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI KUPRIANOV, SPOKESMAN FOR GAZPROM
(- Gradually we will develop new fields and new regions. But right now and for a long time to come the Nadym region will be our most important region.)
Gazprom is the worlds largest producer of natural gas. The company owns one fifth of the worlds known gas reserves .
All figures concerning Gazprom are astronomical. In one single day in January Gazprom shares went up by 23 billion dollars - more than the amount that caused the whole Russian economy to collapse in 1998!
No other Russian company can match that.
President Putin has a firm grip on Gazprom. The federal government is the majority shareholder and the Kremlin has its people placed on the board of directors. The chairman of the board is at the same time deputy prime minister and president Putins special advisor.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI STROKAN, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, NEWSPAPER "KOMMERSANT"
(- Is Gazprom part of Kremlin or a private company? We independant journalists and analysts here sometimes say that Gazprom is the new foreign ministry of Russia. Gazprom enters the stage when foreign policy decisions have to be taken.)
It can be very difficult to distinguish between the political interest of the Kremlin and the economic interest of Gazprom.
In the beginning of 2006 Gazprom shut down delivery of natural gas to Ukraine for two days - officially over a price dispute. The "gas war" showed the world what a powerful political instrument natural gas can be.
INTERVIEW: MYKOLA MARTINENKO, MEMBER OF PARLAMENT AND DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE ENERGY COMMITEE OF THE UKRAINIAN PARLAMENT
(- By the end of last year Russia suggested a price that was five times the price for example Germany pays for Russian gas. Of course we were chocked. It called for negotiations, which were entered, but Ukraine was facing a real threat of having its gas supply cut off in the middle of the winter period.)
The message was that the price of gas would go up from 50 dollars to 230 dollars per one thousand cubic meters. A price that - according to some western experts - would completely upset the Ukrainean economy.
But what really shook the ukrainians was that that massage didn't come from the gas supplier Gazprom, but from the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin.
INTERVIEW: MYKOLA MARTINENKO, MEMBER OF PARLAMENT AND DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE ENERGY COMMITEE OF THE UKRAINIAN PARLAMENT
(- When president Putin and not the chairman of Gazprom is stating the price, it's not a normal situation. We first heard about the new price from president Putin on TV.)
Mr. Martinenko is deputy chairman of the Energy Commitee of the Ukranian Parlament. He has no doubt that the price was a political decision.
INTERVIEW: MYKOLA MARTINENKO, MEMBER OF PARLAMENT AND DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE ENERGY COMMITEE OF THE UKRAINIAN PARLAMENT
(- The underlying cause was political. When a president - in this case the Russian president - comments on the price of gas it is no longer business. Businessmen deal with business. It's politics.)
(Singing)
Ever since the "Orange Revolution" in Ukraine - which brought down the pro-russian government and brought to power Victor Jushenko, the opposition leader - relations between Russia and the former soviet republic of Ukraine have been strained.
INTERVIEW: IGOR LUTSENKO, EDITOR FINANCIAL MAGAZINE "VLAST DJENEG" (the power of money)
(- Putins decision to make the price 230 dollars, his political decision, was like saying to Jushenko "I do not like you". 230 - I do not like you.)
Gazproms position is that Ukraine - and other former soviet republics - have been getting the gas at unreasonably low prices and that they will have to pay the market price.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI KUPRIANOV, SPOKESMAN FOR GAZPROM
(- The decision last year to raise the gas prices was made because it was no longer economically sound to go on with the very low prices)
But what is the market price for natural gas? Hmm that's not so easy to decide. Contrary to oil, which has a fixed price on the world market, gas has no market price.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI STROKAN, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, RUSSIAN NEWSPAPER "KOMMERSANT"
(- There is no market price for gas. It's a paradox! Gas is a commodity and thus should have a market price. But here in this country there is no market price for gas. That's why all talks of market price for gas is just a window dressing.
Just take a map and look at the neighboring republics and how much they pay for natural gas. And you will discover that for every country there is a different market price for gas.
We can make a conclusion that the so-called market price for gas is a combination of quite many factors. Not only economical but also political.)
Former soviet republics like Georgia and Ukraine have recently broken the strong bonds of the past with Russia - and have both experienced sudden stops in the supply of natural gas from Russia while arguing over demands for a higher price.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI STROKAN, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, NEWSPAPER "KOMMERSANT"
(- Finally the price takes into consideration the degree of political loyalty to president Putin. This is a factor that is carefully emitted by the Kremlin, but this factor - along with other factors - is also included into the market price for gas.)
The president of Belarussia, Lukashenko, is loyal to Putin and Russia. He has been able to keep the very low gas price. But at a price - Belarussia has given up the countrys entire pipeline grid to Gazprom - in return for the ridiculously low gas price.
Gazprom actually offered Ukraine the same deal - cheap gas for pipelines - but they turned it down. For - according to many Ukrainians - the huge net of pipelines is the countrys most important asset in the power game with Russia.
80-90 percent of Russias natural gas exports pass through the ukrainian pipes. Kompressor stations make sure that pressure and temperature is kept at the right level.
Through these Ukrainian pipelines Gazprom is the main supplier of natural gas to Europe - especially eastern Europe.
Gazprom supplies 40% of Germanys gas, 65% of the gas in Poland and Bulgaria, 70% of the gas in Hungary, 80% of the gas in Ukraine and the Chech Republic and almost all of the gas that is used in Austria, Slovakia, Belarussia and the Baltic States.
(end of graphics)
In other words - Ukraine is not the only country in Europe which is dependant on Russian gas. But as a transit country Ukraine has the advantage that Gazprom cannot close down the gas supply completely without at the same time cutting of the gas they are obliged to supply to customers further on down the line.
When Gazprom in January reduced the amount of gas supplied to the Ukrainian pipeline grid, the Ukrainians didn't feel any difference - they just drew from the gas that was supposed to go on to countries like Poland, Austria and Hungary.
INTERVIEW: PAVLO ZUBSHENKO, KIEV
(- The temperature was lower, temperature of the radiators.
So the temperature went down - but apart from that you didn't feel any change? You had gas for the stove?
Yes, we had. There was gas.)
INTERVIEW: VOLODYMYR RUDKO, CHIEF OF GAS COMPRESSOR STATION BOYARKA (KIEV)
(- There was gas in the pipelines. There was a minor drop in pressure which led to some compressor stations in this area shutting down, but the ukrainian consumers didn't feel anything.)
The "gas war" ended with a victory for Gazprom. A weak and politically inexperienced Ukrainian government gave in and accepted the higher price. Not the 230 dollars per one thousand cubic meters that president Putin originally suggested, but still double the price they had paid before.
INTERVIEW: MYKOLA MARTINENKO, MEMBER OF PARLAMENT AND DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE ENERGY COMMITEE OF THE UKRAINIAN PARLAMENT
(- The chain of events between Ukraine and Russia over the price of gas must make other European countries consider their relations to Russia, when it comes to gas. It should be clear to the west now that natural gas is being used as a political weapon.)
Gazprom rejects the notion of gas as a political weapon.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI KUPRIANOV, SPOKESMAN FOR GAZPROM
(- This was a very successful ..eh.. journalistic PR-stunt, when the term "gas a political weapon" was launched. It was an expression that unfortunately came up in connection with the Ukrainian problems. One should forget that, for in reality - when it comes to the supply of gas - the most important thing for a company like ours that work with a long term perspective is to secure a stable supply for our partners.)
For Ukraine the "gas war" was a tough lesson.
INTERVIEW: MYKOLA MARTINENKO, MEMBER OF PARLAMENT AND DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE ENERGY COMMITEE OF THE UKRAINIAN PARLAMENT
(- For Ukraine it's not good to have all our gas come from just one supplier. We have no diversification when it comes to energy - and at the same time we unfortunately have a very large consumption.)
(music)
The worlds need for energy is expected to go up by 50% in the next 20 years. That is going to have a great impact on geopolitical relations and American intelligence sources consider that energy and the supply of energy will become a dominant factor in foreign policy.
INTERVIEW: IGOR LUTSENKO, EDITOR FINANCIAL MAGAZINE "VLAST DJENEG" (the power of money)
(- I think Europa can learn several things. First of all that Europe will be next after Ukraine. Second that Europe should act as one consumer of Russian gas in order to oppose Russia. Because one country cannot oppose the power of Gazprom.
Gazprom is getting very brutal, for instance with Moldova and Georgia. And I think the European countries will be next. )
INTERVIEW: MYKOLA MARTINENKO, MEMBER OF PARLAMENT AND DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE ENERGY COMMITEE OF THE UKRAINIAN PARLAMENT
(- One cannot rule out that Germany, Italy or France, who are the big consumers of gas in Europe, suddenly will be met with a price of 800 dollars for gas at the same time there is minus 30 degrees in the alps. This is entirely realistic.)
Gazprom is aware of its strong position in the market.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI KUPRIANOV, SPOKESMAN FOR GAZPROM
(- In the near future there is no serious alternative to Russia. No other country has the gas resources that we have. )
Gazprom is building a new pipeline, The North European Gas Pipeline, to be completed by 2010. It will go through the Baltic Sea, directly from Russia to Germany without having to transit Ukraine or other tiresome intermediates.
To lead this great project Gazprom has hired no other than the former german chancellor, Gerhard Schroder. Back home in Germany, Schroder is facing serious criticism over his job with Gazprom - among other things because as a chancellor he was involved in securing economic guarantees for the project.
Critics claim that the new pipeline will make Germany even more dependant on Russian gas than before.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI STROKAN, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, NEWSPAPER "KOMMERSANT"
(- There is a danger. If Europe really accepts the concept of the North European Gas Pipeline as a "historic project that will change the face of Europe" - this is what official propaganda in Moscow and Berlin is saying - then of course it will be dependance with all its consequences. But still, there is time.)
Gazprom is warning Europe that they have other interested costumers. Russia just signed a deal with energy-hungry China to build two gas pipelines from the gas fields in Sibiria.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI KUPRIANOV, SPOKESMAN FOR GAZPROM
(- Today the market for energy resources is the foundation for economic development in all countries. That's why we think that with the resources and the experience of Gazprom and - of course - our strategy, we will be able to take a worthy place among the worlds biggest energy companies and states.)
This summer the G8 will meet in Sct.Petersburg. A summit that the Kremlin hopes will bring president Putin one step closer to making Russia a superpower once again. This time using gas and oil.
INTERVIEW: SERGEI STROKAN, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, NEWSPAPER "KOMMERSANT"
(- If Europe adopts Putins scenario, as it will be voiced at the G8 meeting: "Just be quiet, we have plenty of gas and oil, we are close to you, we will sell it to you. Trust us. Sign contracts for 10-15 years. Don't look for any alternative sources" - and if Europe deprives itself of alternative sources it may become a younger sister of Russia. It's up to you.)
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