aaus-list @ ukrainianstudies.org -- [aaus-list] Ukraine-Russia Gas Crisis briefing closed

[Diana Howansky <dhh2@columbia.edu>]

Please note that, due to great demand, the limited seating for the 
Ukraine-Russia Gas Crisis briefing organized by the Orange Circle 
(announcement below) has quickly filled up, so additional reservations 
are no longer being accepted for this event. For further information 
about the work of the Orange Circle, please contact Adrianna Melnyk at 
amelnyk@orangecircle.org.

However, for those in the Boston area who are interested . . . To make 
sense of the domestic and international repercusions of the 
Russian-Ukrainian gas crisis, the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute 
(HURI) has decided to organize a conference on the topic, on Sunday, 
February 5 and Monday, February 6, 2006. The Harvard Ukrainian Research 
Institute will have speakers -- both policy-makers and academics -- from 
the US, Western Europe and Ukraine.

HURI is planning to have three sessions, one each in the economic 
aspects of the question, the Ukrainian domestic implications, and the 
international implications. The program can be found on the HURI 
website, at http://www.huri.harvard.edu/calendar.html The event is open 
to the public, but pre-registration is encouraged. (Pre-egistration form 
is available in the HURI website.)

*********************************************************************

The Ukraine-Russia Gas Crisis: An Orange Circle Briefing with Anders
Aslund of the Institute for International Economics

The Orange Circle, a new organization created to support reform in
Ukraine, invites you to a briefing on "The Ukraine-Russia Gas Crisis:
Lessons for Business and the International Community." The briefing will
take place from 12:30 to 2:30 pm on Wednesday, February 1, at the
Ukrainian Institute of America, 2 East 79th Street, New York, NY.  Light
refreshments will be served at 12:30 and discussion will begin at 1:00.
Please kindly respond to this email if you plan to attend the event.

The briefing will address the nature of Ukraine-Russia energy relations,
the growing importance and influence of Russia's Gazprom energy
conglomerate, the role of politics in Russia's energy policy, and the
implications of these factors for Europe, Russia, and Ukraine.

Speakers will include Anders Aslund, Senior Fellow at the Institute for
International Economics, Marianna Kozintseva, Associate Director, Bear
Stearns, and Eugene Fishel*, Acting Division Chief, Bureau of 
Intelligence and Research at the U.S. Department of State. The briefing
will examine Ukraine-Russia energy relations and the role of Gazprom and
implications for European and Russian external policy. The briefing will
be moderated by Adrian Karatnycky, founder and President of the Orange
Circle and Senior Scholar at Freedom House.

Dr. Aslund has served as an economic advisor to the reform government of
Russia and the Ukrainian government on economic reform issues, and had
served as the director of the Russian and Eurasian Program at the 
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace since 2003.  He is the author 
of five books, including Revolution in Orange: The Origins of Ukraine's 
Democratic Breakthrough (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 
2006). Dr. Kozintseva is Associate Director for Emerging Europe Equity 
Strategy at Bear Stearns, a leading investment banking and securities 
trading firm in New York City.  Dr. Kozintseva previously worked for the 
RAND Corporation, the World Bank, and the International Institute for 
Management Development. Eugene Fishel is a leading U.S. State Department 
analyst of trends in Ukraine and Russia.

On January 1, Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled natural gas monopoly 
cut supplies to Ukraine, affecting deliveries through a transit pipeline
across Ukraine to Central and Western Europe.  The move precipitated a
debate about European dependence on Russian natural gas.

Three days later, a complex deal was announced to enable gas supplies to
be restored to Ukraine and thereby to Europe.

While some of the terms of the agreement are still being clarified, the
deal allows Ukraine to buy a mix of Russian and Central Asian gas 
through a sole importer, RosUkrEnergo, a joint venture between 
Gazprombank and a unit of Austria's Raiffeisen Bank, which holds the 
stake on behalf of undisclosed owners.  Gazprom will sell gas intended 
for Ukraine to the intermediary, that will then resell it to Ukraine at 
an average price of $95 per 1,000 cubic meters.

The controversy surrounding the deal centers on RosUkrEnergo, whose
ownership structures are not transparent. The deal has been under
legislative scrutiny in Ukraine and was cited as a reason for the
Ukrainian Parliament's January 11th vote to dismiss Prime Minister Yuri
Yekhanurov and his government.

* invited

Contact:
Adrianna Melnyk, 917.364.4953
Email: amelnyk@orangecircle.org

-- 
Diana Howansky
Staff Associate
Ukrainian Studies Program
Columbia University
Room 1209, MC3345
420 W. 118th Street
New York, NY  10027
(212) 854-4697
ukrainianstudies@columbia.edu
http://www.sipa.columbia.edu/ukrainianstudies/