Yushchenko Takes The Gas Issue Into His Own Hands?

After Turkmenistan’s announcement on Friday about plans to meet with Gazprom authorities to agree on gas supply volumes and prices for 2H06, Viktor Yuschenko said he had decided to visit Saparmurat Niyazov in person. Previously, Yushchenko had been scheduled to visit Turkmenistan in May this year, but the trip was postponed. Concorde Capital: Yushchenko apparently hopes that a personal visit will help him to avoid another gas price increase. However, he has little leverage since Turkmenbashi seems to be coordinating his energy strategy with Russia. We doubt Yushchenko will succeed in securing any “direct” supplies of gas from Turkmenistan. Thus, any price increase agreed between Gazprom and Turkmenistan could be passed on to Ukraine as soon as July 1.