Switch to Desktop Site  Crisis deepens as Russia-Ukraine gas
deal unravels  The dispute threatens to paralyze economic
relations.  About these ads    Moscow maintains it's simply a
matter of weaning Ukraine from the Soviet-era subsidies that saw
it paying less than half the global market price for its gas as
recently as last year. Mired in economic troubles, Ukraine's
ability to pay the $450 per thousand cubic meters that Russia is
now demanding seems uncertain. Ukraine relies on Russia for 75
percent of its gas needs, and the fuel is essential to power the
steel and chemical industries that are the economic backbone of
the former Soviet country of 50 million. But as observers' heads
spin over the on again off again flow of Russian gas, which
accounts for a quarter of Europe's total supply, there are
growing suspicions that hidden concerns over Ukraine's
geopolitical choices and high-level corruption in both Russia
and Ukraine may be the real factors driving this dispute.
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