By Slava Tsukerman
Why Slavyansk, a town with population of 129,600, until recently unknown to most of people of the world, unexpectedly became the centre of battles in the eastern Ukraine?
Slavyansk a year ago.
Slavyansk today.
Lately several Russian and Ukrainian web sites gave interesting possible explanation of the Slavyansk phenomenon.
According to these publications there is no struggle for humanism, for federalization or defense Russian-speaking population in eastern Ukraine. These fantastic reasons have been created in Kremlin offices to trigger revolt of eastern Ukrainian poor miners against imaginary Kiev nationalistic “fascists” in order to hide the true purpose of the special Russian operation.
In the eastern Ukraine there is a giant field, hiding enormous deposits of the shale gas, the energy resource of the 21st century. Slavyansk is located in the heart of this territory. The territory hides the great resources that can change the world’s energy map.
In the beginning of this year the official Ukrainian sources had revealed that the cost of Ukrainian shale gas would be at least three times cheaper than the Russian gas. According to the site ” Tsenzor.NET “: “Yanukovych estimated that by 2020 Ukraine will become a gas exporter”.
Edward Stawicki, back then the Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine revealed then that Ukraine is signing an agreement with Chevron on the exploitation of the deposit.
International web site “Friends of the Earth” wrote on February 25, 2014:
“Shell entered into the USD 10 billion shale gas deal with the Ukrainian government and the Nadra Yuzivska LLC company in Davos… Nadra Yuzivska LLC receives half of the profits and 90 per cent of the company is owned by the state. 10% of this company, however, is in the hands of a small shadowy company that has frequently been linked by the Ukrainian media to the Yanukovych faction. There are strong suspicions that the company serves as a cover to channel funds to the Yanukovych family…”
Experts note that the gas reserves in eastern Ukraine could fundamentally change the power not only in Ukraine, but also in Europe, and possibly ruin Russian control of the gas trade, the base of Russian economy.
Can it explain the Russian activity in the region?
Russian flag in Slavyansk.
