It’s almost tradition. At the end of a year Ukraine and Russia beginning with a new conflict because of transit of gas though Ukraine into EU and price of gas for Ukraine.
I’m would like to try to describe this conflict as I understand it accourding to different news media.
Russia accuses Ukraine that Ukraine did not pay for gas.
Ukraine accuses the joint Russian-Ukrainian company “RosUrkEnergo”, that it is responsible for delay and therefore refuses, to pay fines.
The Ukraine got then a credit to the able to pay for gas for last year and transfer it to RosUkrEnergo, without the fees to be taken into account, since Ukraine does not recognize this.
The company RosUkrEnergo did not transfer the money simply to Gasprm, but they divide the money and tranfer a part of it, in order to pay the fines and the balance were transfered as payment of the debt for the year 2008.
The rest of money is no longer sufficient to pay for the consumption of natural gas for 2008 because RosUkrEnergo used a part of it as a controversial transfer fees.
It seems that Russia used the company RosUrkEnergo to achieve their own purposes. Ukraine is of course recognized the problem a year ago, but Russia is trying to save the position of this company as mediator.. This is also understandable why Russia will try to save a status of RusUkrEnergo, because otherwise Russia would have fewer opportunities, to turn the situation in their own direction.
This all sounds to some one-sided. Therefore, I would like to say that I do not trust both sides 100%. So I try to consider the statements of both parties critical. Of course it could be that my conclusions are wrong, but they seem to me quite logical.