UKRAINE SEEKS KUWAIT OIL DEAL.

Publication: Monitor Volume: 1 Issue: 106

While receiving a Kuwaiti parliamentary delegation in Kiev, parliament chairman Oleksandr Moroz said, in an obvious reference to Russia, that Ukraine "badly needs to diversify its energy sources" and cannot continue to depend on "only one source of oil,". Moroz said that Kuwaiti oil can be transported to Ukraine either by tanker to a terminal to be built in Odessa, or by a pipeline to be laid via Turkey. The Kuwaiti delegation responded that its government would be interested because it is actively looking for new outlets for its oil and would accept Ukrainian metallurgical industry goods, including pipe, in payment for oil. (10)

Several CIS member countries have sought barter-style oil deals with Kuwait. Moldovan Prime Minister Andrei Sangheli for example discussed one such possible deal in several recent rounds of talks with the Kuwait government. The countries want to rid themselves of their abject dependence on Russian oil, but have had difficulty solving transportation and payment problems.

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