Who becomes Ukraine’s prime minister will not influence prices for Russian gas

Read it in Russian

No matter who becomes Ukraine’s next prime minister, prices for the Russian gas will be determined by market principles, Head Researcher of the Center for European Policy Studies Michael Emerson has made such statement commenting at a news conference in Brussels on July 14 on an intention of Regions Party leader Viktor Yanukovich, who was proposed to the prime minister’s position by the anti-crisis opposition, “to find common language with Russia and Turkmenistan” over gas issue, a REGNUM correspondent reports citing Ukrainian First Business TV-1 Channel. According to Emerson, the idea of a half price in order to provide Moscow with political loyalty from neighboring countries, particularly, Ukraine, has exhausted itself. “Comments of Gazprom representatives show that they just decided to earn as much money as possible within their own business. It concerns several regions – Belarus, South Caucasus, Ukraine. They all will be faced with new market energy prices, and that will be the end. However, better news for the Ukrainian independence will be the fact that Russia will not subsidize the Ukrainian economy by low energy price,” the expert noted.

Michael Emerson notes that despite “completing the gas issue,” Russia still has power levers: in particular, it will “play its political card in issues of Crimea, the Black Sea Fleet, NATO, the Russian language in eastern and southern parts of Ukraine.”