VOA标准英语2009-Russian Gas: Pipelines, Politics and Money

By Peter Fedynsky
Moscow
11 November 2009

 
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has warned Ukraine he will cut off the country's gas supplies if it siphons fuel from export lines. Mr. Putin made the statement in Moscow following a meeting with Austrian Chancellor¹ Werner Faymann. His warning carries an implicit² threat that Europeans this winter could again face shortages of gas they receive from Russia via pipelines⁴ that go through Ukraine. 

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been discussing energy with European leaders much of this past year. He met with the prime minister of Hungary in May to speed construction of the new South Stream gas pipeline³ from Russia to Europe, a pipeline that will not transit⁵ Ukraine. 

In October, Mr. Putin discussed the project with his Italian counterpart. Following talks on November 2 with the Danish head of government, Mr. Putin issued a sharp warning that Europe should help pay for deliveries of Russian gas to Ukraine.

The Prime Minister says Russia has already paid Ukraine $2.5-billion for transit and urges Europeans to throw in, as he puts it, "a lousy billion". Mr. Putin bluntly comments, "Why have they become so stingy down there? They have money, too. Let them get something out of their pockets."

 
Russia's Primer Minister Vladimir Purin(r) and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko says her country paid Russia $500 million for October's gas bill. She also alleges⁶ President Viktor Yushchenko blocked payments usually made through the Ukrainian National Bank. Mr. Yushchenko, in turn, has criticized Ms. Tymoshenko for negotiating a gas contract that favors Russia. Both are candidates in a January presidential election.

Russian National Energy Security Fund Director Konstantin Simonov agrees with both accusations⁷. He says Ms. Tymoshenko obligated Ukraine to pay for gas it does not use. And Simonov says the Ukrainian president has his eye on the upcoming election.

The analyst⁸ says President Yushchenko and those close to him are concerned, above all, with their own re-election. Simonov says for them it is clear their only chance to stay in power is to organize a major disruption, and in that regard, a gas war with Russia is an ideal scenario⁹.

 
Estonia's Defense¹⁰ Minister Jaak Aviksoo 
Meanwhile, Finland and Sweden in early November approved construction of the Nord Stream pipeline in their waters. Nord Stream would also circumvent¹¹ Ukraine, delivering Russian gas to Northern Europe under the Baltic Sea. But Estonian Defense Minister Jaak Aviksoo accuses Moscow of playing politics.

"The decision to have the Nord Stream as well as South Stream bypassing a number of central Eastern European countries is clearly a political decision," said Jaak Aviksoo. "And unfortunately these countries not being consulted feel themselves somehow out in the cold."

European countries are also considering construction of yet another pipeline, Nabucco, which is backed by the United States and would circumvent Russia with supplies of Asian or Middle Eastern gas.

Harvard University's Marshall Goldman told VOA that Moscow is seeking to prevent such pipeline competition by playing European countries against one another. 

"We will make a special deal with you, we will give you a discounted price, sign up with us and you will be protected," said Marshall Goldman. "We will not cut you off.' And this kind of leads to disruption in any kind of united front that might otherwise stand off against the Russians."

 
Konstantin Simonov
Konstantin Simonov warns that Europe cannot replace the huge volumes pumped by Russia with Nabucco's relatively¹² small annual capacity of 31 billion cubic meters. He also questions the reliability¹³ of Nabucco's potential suppliers. 

Simonov says he wants to ask Nabucco backers if they have been in Turkmenistan. Have they been in Iran or Egypt? Do they not have any reservations that those countries are much more capable of politicizing the energy dialogue [than Russia]? Simonov says he does not think his country is using gas as a political weapon, but has, instead, a different problem - it wants to make lots of money.

Simonov cautions that Russia should not be allowed to corner the market on Central Asian gas, which already flows through Russian and Ukrainian pipelines to Europe. 

1 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

2 implicit   

a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的

参考例句：

• A soldier must give implicit obedience to his officers. 士兵必须绝对服从他的长官。
• Her silence gave implicit consent. 她的沉默表示默许。

3 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

4 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。

5 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

6 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

7 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

8 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

9 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

10 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

11 circumvent   

vt.环绕，包围；对…用计取胜，智胜

参考例句：

• Military planners tried to circumvent the treaty.军事策略家们企图绕开这一条约。
• Any action I took to circumvent his scheme was justified.我为斗赢他的如意算盘而采取的任何行动都是正当的。

12 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

13 reliability   

n.可靠性，确实性

参考例句：

• We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
• I can assure you of the reliability of the information.我向你保证这消息可靠。