No Dice.

Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov’s meeting with Russian PM Mikhial Fradkov in Moscow yesterday had no major results. Yekhanurov said the two sides each submitted protocols for changes to the gas contract, and were reviewing them. The PM said a major hang up in the negotiations involves the establishment of a formula for setting prices in the new contract. Concorde Capital: Ukraine is in a tough spot, Europe is getting anxious about its gas supplies and wants to see the conflict resolved. Ukraine can half the damage done by the new gas prices by raising transport tariffs however, Russia still has the upper hand. As long as Ukraine resists the temptation to give Russia control of some of its pipes in return for cheap gas, in the long term everything should be fine.