Blue &Yellow: Politics and Economics in Ukraine

As previously posted, Ukraine is struggling to pay its gas bill. This problem is related to the agreement made back in January. The deal that ended the January crisis has three problems: the upfront payment, means for calculating the gas price, and the agreed price. Well two of the three are central to Ukraine's current woes with Gazprom. The country struggles monthly to pay for gas. The prime minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymosheno, said as much recently.

Now, there is renewed speculation on whether Ukraine can pay for June gas. There are discussions currently underway on lending money to Ukraine to pay for gas. Tymoshenko says that Ukraine will pay its bill next month. The prime minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, thinks there is a chance that gas will be cut again in July (Reuters). He also voiced his frustration over the ongoing drama between Russia and Ukraine.

Fico echoed Barroso statements that it was not the EU's responsibility to help Ukraine pay for Russian gas imports.

"Sometimes, I have a feeling the entire Russia-Ukraine trade dispute is primarily about to make someone else pay," Fico said. "But it is not our duty to step into this."

Slovakia, which gets virtually all of its gas from Russia, is proceeding with plans to secure diversified routes for gas deliveries to avoid a repeat of the crisis, Fico said.