Thread by @DenbrotS

THREAD
Ukraine’s Control of a gas supply to Europe is at the heart of Trump’s extortion of Zelensky.
EU Pipeline Ruling Helps Ukraine Thwart Russia
Putin wants to use the natural gas transmission system to squeeze the Ukrainian gov’t /1
google.com/amp/s/www.bloo…

Ukraine’s Gas Rights Worth $Billions /2
“A European Union court has undermined Russia’s strategic plan to eliminate its dependence on Ukraine for transit of its natural gas exports to Europe.
[Zelensky] now has a much stronger position in trilateral gas talks w/Russia &the EU..”

Ukraine’s Gas Rights Worth $Billions /3
[Ppl wonder what Gordon Sondland, Ambassador to EU was doing in Ukraine. The trilateral talks about gas pipeline rights among Russia, Ukraine and EU might just be the answer.]

Ukraine’s Gas Tights Worth $Billions /4
“Last year, Russia’s Nord Stream 1 delivered 58.8 billion cubic meters of gas to Germany, more than its nominal capacity of 55 billion cubic meters and about 29% of Russia’s gas exports to Europe.

Ukraine’s Gas Rights Worth $Billions /5
“The available onshore capacity has allowed Russia to go ahead w/building a new pipeline,Nord Stream 2, parallel to Nord Stream 1. That project is opposed by the U.S. It argues that Nord Stream 2 would make Germany too dependent on Russia..

Ukraine’s Gas Rights Worth $Billions /6
..for energy supplies and would allow Gazprom’s exports to Europe to bypass Ukraine’s Soviet-era pipeline system, depriving that country of about $3 billion in transit fees just as Ukraine receives major Western financial assistance.”

Ukraine’s Gas Rights Worth $Billions /7
“As Gazprom can no longer enjoy its monopolistic position on the OPAL pipeline, it will not be able to terminate transit of gas to Europe via Ukraine, at least in the coming months,”Polish company’s vice president,Wozniak, said..

Ukraine’s Gas Rights Worth $Billions /8
“Ukraine moved 86.8 billion cubic meters of Ru gas to Europe last yr,&there’s no guarantee that volume won’t drop once Nord Stream 2 is finished.But hurdles..do force Gazprom& its controlling owner,Ru to maintain Ukrainian transit option...

Ukraine’s Gas Rights Worth $Billions /9
Gazprom needs Ukraine to keep deliveries stable&retain market share. Ru may have to opt for business strategy,even if it doesn’t..fit Putin’s preference to use Ru’s energy sector power to put economic pressure on Ukraine’s pro-Western gov’t

Ukraine’s Gas Rights Worth $Billions /10
Turkey’s massive gas pipeline a double-edged sword for Europe
The €11bn TurkStream gas project will put Turkey and Russia in a position of power
irishtimes.com/business/energ…

Ukraine’s Gas Rights Worth $Billions /11

For those who saw it coming, the sight of a massive, 382-metre-long ship passing through Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait in May said a lot about Turkey’s plans to influence Europe’s access to new natural gas supplies.

Ukraine’s Gas Rights Worthington $Billions /12
“The ship is today off Russia’s Black Sea coast, where it has begun work on the deep-sea section of the TurkStream project, a pipeline that will see Ru gas flow under the Black Sea &emerge in western Turkey 900 kilometres southwest..

Ukraine’s Gas Rights Worthington $Billions /13
..And despite a growing appetite for its energy, Brussels is also at political loggerheads with Russia over its military incursions into eastern Ukraine and annexation of Crimea in March 2014..

Ukraine’s Gas Rights Worth $Billions /14
..That the TurkStream pipeline runs less than 100km from Crimea is another slap in the face for Kiev, a strategic ally of Europe that is finding itself bypassed and increasingly isolated from the lucrative westward flow of gas..

Ukraine’s Gas Rights Worth $Billions /14
..Ukraine is expected to lose billions of euro as a result of Russia’s rerouting of pipelines..
“What’s different now..is that Turkey-Russia relations have improved..Turkey is drawn closer to Russia. Clearly energy is at the core of this.”

Ukraine’s Gas Rights Worth $Billions
Eastern Europe is trying to break its dependence on Russian gas. Western Europe is doing the opposite.

Now the Baltic and Nordic states are trying to break free of their dependence on Russian gas imports.
washingtonpost.com/world/2018/10/…

Ukraine’s Gas Rights Worth $Billions /16

“Finland and Estonia are building the Balticconnector, a major new pipeline between the two countries that could bring natural gas from the United States and other nations to Finland..

Ukraine’s Gas Rights Worth $Billions /17

..The U.S. has pressured Germany in recent months to stop the [Nordstream II] pipeline. During his speech at U.N. in Sept,Trump claimed Germany would become “totally dependent on Ru energy if it does not immediately change course”..

Ukraine’s Gas Rights Worth $Billions /18
Gas wars
..Many of those countries still remember the dispute between Ukraine &Russia..in 3/05...Moscow accused Kiev of diverting gas meant for E.U. nations &redirecting it to its own storage sites..avoiding paying for its own..consumption

Ukraine’s Gas Worth $Billions /19
Things became even more complicated June 2014,following a pro-European revolt in Ukraine that triggered Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Russian-backed rebels fought Ukrainian soldiers Moscow turned up pressure by cutting off Ukraine’s gas supplies

Ukraine’s Gas Rights Worth $Billions /20

European pressure on Russia eventually ended the blockade, but Ukraine and other Eastern European countries fear their Western European partners will be less inclined to help them once they receive gas through the new pipelines.

Ukraine’s Gas Righrs Worth $Billions

“It would increase Russia’s leverage: All of the sudden they would have another route and option to stranglehold Ukraine and to demand better transit conditions," said Nolan Theisen, head of the GLOBSEC Policy Institute’s Energy Program.