Yukos to Ukraine: Checkmating the Bear…

Rajiv Singh
06 January 2005

The Yukos affair is a continuation of the 'great game' that began in the 18th century between the West and Russia, this time for control of the world's most strategic commodity — oil.

With oil prices settling into a high $40- 50 range, economies across the world are desperately trying to secure supplies for their current as well as future needs. Yukos and Ukraine may well turn out to be a mutual exchange of pieces on the chessboard of international oil politics.

Russia has the world's largest natural gas reserves and the pipelines to Europe pass through the former USSR territory, Ukraine. The West wants to control the pipelines. So does Russia.

That's why Russian president Vladmir Putin described his government's battle with oil major, Yukos, which sought to bypass the Russian state in striking a pipeline deal with US oil companies, as an attempt to purge 'cowboy capitalism.'

Pre-Christmas, the headlines were all about Yukos, and then as the year came to a close, it was all Ukraine. Unrelated though they may seem, the Yukos affair and the happenings in Ukraine may share an intriguing connection — other than just following each other in the calendar of events!