Ukraine and Russia resumed tense talks yesterday amid Russian threats to cut off natural gas exports to its energy-dependent neighbor within 72 hours unless Kiev agrees to pay four times as much.
The dispute has brought to a boiling point the tensions that have strained relations between Moscow and its former imperial satellite since reformist President Viktor Yushchenko came to power in Ukraine after last year's Orange Revolution, promising to move his nation of 48 million toward integration with the West.
Russia's state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom has threatened to turn the taps off at 10am on Sunday if Ukraine refuses to sign a new contract at a price of US$220-230 per 1,000m3.
That is more than four times the current tariff of US$50. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov on Wednesday denounced the Russian demand as unacceptable pressure. Ukraine relies on Russia for nearly a third of its gas needs.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Ivan Plachkov flew into Moscow on Wednesday for talks with his Russian counterpart Viktor Khristenko but the two officials left the negotiations late in the evening without a deal.
Officials from OAO Gazprom and the Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz met on Wednesday morning and the two ministers were due to resume their talks later in the day.
Gazprom argues that it has every right to demand the increase as a justifiable move to scrap energy subsidies enjoyed by former Soviet nations and move the price it charges Ukraine more into line with world levels.
Ukraine, which fears such a sharp rise in energy costs could cripple its energy-intensive heavy industry and impede efforts to boost its economy, has asked for the increases to be phased in over five years instead of all at once.
The International Industrial Talents Education Special (INTENSE) Program to attract foreigners to study and work in Taiwan will provide scholarships and a living allowance of up to NT$440,000 per person for two years beginning in August, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) told a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday. Pan was giving an update on the program’s implementation, a review of universities’ efforts to recruit international students and promotion of the Taiwan Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent (BEST) program. Each INTENSE Program student would be awarded a scholarship of up to NT$100,000 per year for up to
Singapore yesterday swore in Lawrence Wong (黃循財) as the city-state’s new prime minister in a ceremony broadcast live on television after Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) stepped down following two decades in office. Wong, formerly deputy prime minister, was inaugurated at the Istana government office shortly after 8pm to become the second person outside the Lee family to lead the nation. “I ... do solemnly swear that I will at all times faithfully discharge my duties as prime minister according to law, and to the best of my knowledge and ability, without fear or favor, affection or ill-will. So help me God,” the
BASIC OPERATIONS: About half a dozen navy ships from both countries took part in the days-long exercise based on the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea An unpublicized joint military exercise between Taiwan and the US in the Pacific Ocean last month was carried out in accordance with an international code, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. According to a Reuters report citing four unnamed sources, the two nations’ navies last month conducted joint drills in the Western Pacific. The drills were not made public at the time, but “about half-a-dozen navy ships from both sides, including frigates and supply and support vessels, participated in the days-long exercises,” Reuters reported, citing the sources. The drills were designed to practice “basic” operations such as communications, refueling and resupplies,
‘MONEY PIT’: The KMT’s more than NT$2 trillion infrastructure project proposals for eastern Taiwan lack professional input and financial transparency, the DPP said The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday said it would ask the Executive Yuan to raise a motion to oppose the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ infrastructure proposals and prepare to file for a constitutional interpretation if the KMT-dominated legislature forces their passage. The DPP caucus described the three infrastructure plans for transportation links to eastern Taiwan proposed by the KMT as “three money pit projects” that would cost more than NT$2 trillion (US$61.72 billion). It would ask the Executive Yuan to oppose public projects that would drain state financial resources, DPP caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said. It would also file for