) Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma on Thursday said problems with Russia were forcing the ex-Soviet republic to look elsewhere for energy supplies.
"We talk about a strategic partnership, but Russia's actions are doing a good job in pushing us away in search of other sources of energy supply," Kuchma told a news conference.
The Ukrainian leader, in Baku on the first day of a two-day visit to the oil-producing republic for talks with Azeri President Haydar Aliyev, said Russia had failed in their agreement to ship crude to Ukraine.
"Since December 1999, LUKoil has not supplied us with one barrel of oil for our refineries," Kuchma said.
Energy-hungry Ukraine, which has to import up to 85 percent of its energy from Russia and Turkmenistan, has for a long time been seeking to diversify energy supplies.
Kuchma aims for some Azeri oil to be eventually processed in Ukrainian refineries, which have a capacity of up to 50 million metric tons annually.
Ukraine is also eyeing the possibility of exporting some Caspian oil through a partially built oil pipeline to the Polish border in the future.
Currently Azerbaijan has a contract to supply 500,000 metric tons of diesel to Ukraine for the harvesting and sowing season. Around 15,000 metric tons has already been delivered.
Source: Russia Today
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=143520
-- Lee Maloney (leemaloney@hotmail.com), March 17, 2000