1. Country name: Ukraine
2. Conflict:
- Russia's state gas monopoly Gazprom accused Ukraine of "stealing" gas in transit.
3. Copy the headlines and the link to a news item reporting on that conflict.
"Economic, political wrestling behind Russia-Ukraine gas row"
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/200901/03/content_10598523.htm
4. Summarize the news.
- On January, 3, 2009 Russia's state gas monopoly Gazprom accused Ukraine of "stealing" gas in transit. The officials denied the accusation, saying that they are withdrawing only enough gas to operate pumping stations serving the pipelines.
5. Describe the conflict.
- Russia is having gas conflicts with Ukrain. The russian gas monopoly said Ukraine was "stealing" gas in transit, but the officials denied the accusation giving an explanation.
6. Based on your research - geography and timeline, explain why the conflict happened. Which ones are the roots of the conflict?
- The gas conflict is just one symptom of growing economic and political tensions. Complex economic relations that—in the case of Russia and Ukraine—existed long before the emergence of the Soviet Union were broken up. The new ruling elites of Russia and Ukraine have resorted to nationalism in order to create a diversion from growing social tensions. The relations between Russia and Ukraine have deteriorated significantly.These relations have been extremely tense since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. There have also been repeated disputes over the Russian gas supplies. The gas tap was turned off on a number of occasions in the 1990s because of unpaid bills. Alongside Ukraine, three Baltic states and the republics of Moldavia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia are due to pay higher gas prices from January—although their increase is less drastic than that imposed on Ukraine. Gas supplies were cut off for Moldavia as well as Ukraine.
Last year, Ukraine received a quarter of its gas from Russian sources, with 50 percent coming from Turkmenistan and the rest from its own production facilities. According to the latest deal, however, the proportion of Russian imported oil is to drop from the current level of 23 billion to 17 billion cubic metres.
During the three days of the dispute, tension escalated between Moscow and Kiev. Gazprom had accused Ukraine of illegally siphoning off large quantities of gas. The Ukrainian government rejected this reproach equally vigorously, while threatening to “use Russian gas as a transit charge” under conditions of falling temperatures.
7. Answer:
a) Who is involved in the conflict?
- Ukraine and Russia
b) Where is it happening?
- They are accusing Ukraine of "stealing" gas in transit.
c) When did it happen and how long has it been going on?
- It happened on January 3, 2009. It lasted three days.
