Well, the deal is off:
Gazprom says Russia's natural-gas price for Ukraine will rise by $100 to $485 per 1,000 cubic meters as of April.
The announcement was made at a meeting between Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Gazprom chief Aleksei Miller on April 3.
Medvedev told Miller that Ukraine was freed from paying duty on its gas imports from Russia under the terms of the 2010 Kharkiv Agreement that also provided for Russia's Black Sea Fleet to remain in Crimea.
"Considering the decreasing international legal grounds for the existence of the agreement and the denunciation of the agreement itself," Medvedev said, he was rescinding the agreement, effective April 1.
Yeah, the legal grounds of Ukraine possessing Crimea are over.
I think Ukraine should tally up the rental costs for Sevastopol and all of Ukraine, and send a bill every month to Moscow.
Russia won't pay it, of course. But it will establish both Ukraine's refusal to accept the loss of their territory and also build up assets that can be used to negate Ukraine's debt to Russia.
What the heck, tack on a security deposit in case of damages and to steam clean the carpet when the Russians leave.
One day, of course, if Ukraine will bust a gut to seek alternative energy sources.
