End of gas blackmail: how Russia came up with a scheme against Europe - and how Ukraine destroyed it
5 billion. US Annual income from gas exports, which is one of the channels of financing of war. Given the historical scale of the event - the completion of more than half a century era of Russian gas exports to Europe through Ukraine, it is worth mentioning some little -known facts. Before the Soviet Union became an exporter of gas to the east line-west, inside the USSR gas in the 50-70s moved from west to east.
And it was Ukrainian gas, which was produced both in the west of the country - the Dashav deposit and in the east - Shebelinka. Dashava-Kiev-Bryansk-Moscow and Dashava-Minsk-Vilnius-Riga Natural Gas of Western Ukrainian deposits was supplied to Russia and other USSR republics (see Dashava-Kiev-Moscow-Secretno). The modern route of the flow of natural gas flows East-an West from the Giant Asia, Urals and Western Siberia deposits in Europe was formed during the 1960s and 1980s during the Cold War.
Initially, export gas supplies were directed only to individual satellite countries in Eastern Europe-members of the Council of Economic Mutual Assistance (RME) and the organization of the Warsaw Treaty (ATS)-Poland and Czechoslovakia, and subsequently neutral Austria and Finland.
Exacerbation of Soviet-Chinese relations until the armed conflict in March 1969 around the island of Damansk on the Amur put the USSR, according to the Kremlin's vision of the time, before the threat of war on two fronts-from the US and NATO in the west and from China in the east. This stimulated the Soviet leadership to move to the policy of discharge in relations with the West, especially since the Caribbean rocket crisis in 1962 ended in favor of the USSR.
In November 1969, in November 1969, in the Helsinki negotiations between the USSR and the US on the restriction of strategic offensive weapons, accelerated the signing of the famous 20-year-old gas contract "Gas" between the Governments of the Soviet Union and Western Germany. With its signing, large -scale construction projects of transcontinental gas transport systems were being implemented, through which natural gas was supposed to enter Western Europe - to Germany, Italy, France.
It remains little known that the first export supply of natural gas from the USSR was provided from the deposits located in the western part of Ukraine. Exports of gas in the western direction, which began with Poland in 1956, was expanded by exports through a new gas pipe with the symbolic name "Brotherhood" (Valley - Uzhgorod - State Border). He began to provide blue fuel with the Czech Republic.
The launch of the Brotherhood took place in 1967, and during the next year the pipeline from the territory of Slovakia was extended outside the eastern block, and gas began to flow to neutral Austria. Also little known is the fact that the projects on the main Soviet gas transport systems were performed in Ukraine, in Kiev.
After the liberation of Ukraine from the Nazi occupation on September 29, 1944, "UkrDiprogazpalprom" was established in Kyiv - the Ukrainian Branch of the Moscow State Institute for Projecting Industrial Liquid Fuel and Gas Diprogazpalprom. After a series of transformations, this Ukrainian prose organization became the All-Union Research and Project Institute for Natural Gas Transport "ODPitransgaz" of the USSR Ministry of Gas Industry.
It was this institute that developed a project documentation of the first main gas pipelines both within the USSR and export, including Dashava - Kyiv - Bryansk - Moscow, "Union" (Orenburg - the Western border of the USSR); "Progress" (Yamburg - the Western border of the USSR); Central Asia - center; USSR - People's Republic of Bulgaria; Urengoi -Pomar -Uzhgorod; Torzhok - as well as many others in Russia.
It is advisable to remind that these large -scale infrastructure projects were implemented in order to increase foreign exchange revenues to the USSR, which needed them to achieve military parity from the US and NATO. This could be achieved by exporting energy to NATO member states and the European Economic Community (EEC). However, not only the currency needs were governed by the Soviet leadership.
The purpose of the large -scale increase in oil and gas exports was the dependence of Western Europe on the USSR, detached from the United States, and the neutral Austria and Finland should become more favorable to Moscow. Ivan Dyak, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Mining Sciences of Ukraine, which was in the leadership positions of the Ukrainian state company "Ukrgasprom" in 1972-1998.
He was directly involved in the projects of construction of Soviet gas pipelines, especially celebrates the period of the early 80's. According to his memories, then the Soviet leadership was finally formulated the strategic goal of creating transcontinental gas transport systems East - West: "The CPSU Central Committee sets the task of building gas pipeline They will be completely dependent on Soviet energy . . . The USSR will be able to economically and politically influence Western Europe.
The Soviet intentions of the dependence of Europe's leading economy from the supply of gas from the east are also indicated The CPSU on December 1, 1969: "Important significance can be the reconciliation of the supplies in the FRG of Soviet natural gas. The difficult thing is to conclude The sphere of the people Houses of FRG, as Energetics.
" And given that exactly 16 years ago Gazprom, according to the Kremlin, resorted to the act of gas aggression against Ukraine and the EU, it is worth mentioning those who not only shuddered, but also skillfully showed MSCLM "Kuzkin's Mother", spreading GTS in GTS in Reverse for 36 hours for gas supply from the western PSG to the center, south and east, and not leaving Moscow the chances of having a cold cold of the cold January 2009.
Under the row of the then head of Naftogaz, Oleg Dubina and his deputy and engineering genius of GTS Yaroslav Marchuk was made impossible, after which both in Russia and Europe concluded - "it turns out, it was possible" and the possibility of reversing use of gas pipelines became a norm in the EU . They all did not even know at the time that the Kremlin scenario was torn. The 2009 gas crisis had far -reaching goals.
She had to play the role of a detonator to provoke political conflict in Ukraine along the East Line. The idea was that in case of complete cessation of gas supply (for internal consumption + transit to the EU), the authorities in Ukraine will not be able to supply it from the main PGGs located in the west of the country to the east, to the main industrial centers that will be left without gas and Warm.
Thus, this was to provoke, according to Russian strategists, "a social explosion in the east and south of Ukraine. " It is no accident on January 12, 2009. Publications on the topic of "Broadcasting" and Russian politicians' statements were appeared in the Russian media: "The State Duma Deputy of the State Duma Konstantin Zatulin does not exclude that Russia" will sign "at the right time" the "southeastern regions of Ukraine To enter Russia.
" This sign could have been submitted in a few days if the Ukrainian side agreed to Gazprom's proposal of January 13 on the restoration of gas transit to the Balkans and Turkey according to its scheme. The Chairman of the Board of Naftogaz of Ukraine Oleg Dubina rejected this proposal: "The proposal received from Russia, to pump gas with the entrance to the DHF" Sudzha 1200 "to Moldova, Bulgaria and Romania, may threaten that we have to disconnect from gas Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk.
If Kyiv led to the Gazpromiv proposal, the inhabitants of the millionaire cities, as well as a number of smaller industrial cities of the East and South of Ukraine, would be left without gas and heating at temperatures below -10 ° -15 ° C .
And these protests, of course, would have political demands and would be supported by the regional authorities, the Communists, the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, which had traditionally pro -Russian orientation and financing from Russian sources. These are the memories of the day of today. We struck the enemy on the gas front while our warriors are fighting, destroying the enemy.
PS Since Poland has taken off from the EU today and the country committed the consumption of Russian energy resources and is the state of the Baltic region, that is, there is a good opportunity to end the Russian oil in the Baltic - to close the oil "window to Europe" for the Kremlin's aggressive regime, as well as to remove exceptions Pipeline supply of oil in the EU sanction mode for Putin Trojan horses - Orban and Fitzo regimes.