June 24, 2014
No one ever thinks about the water. Or the toilet paper, as it were.
But these are among the many, many staples that become luxuries when one's nation is in crisis.
Hours ago, the local gas company in Kiev (Kyivenergo) announced that they would be shutting off the hot water supply to most of the city.
While the official reason for the hot water shutoff is that Kyivenergo (the energy supplier to Kiev) owes a debt to the Ukrainian state gas company (Naftogaz) of over $100 million.
It's just a quirky little coincidence that this debt suddenly became materially important only one week after Russia shut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine.
Funny thing is that Ukrainian politicians for years had been telling people not to worry about this.
You see, Ukraine has its own domestic natural gas supplies. And they tell people that the domestic gas is strictly for the people and their utilities (like hot water).
Russian gas, according to this story, is imported for businesses to use. But that domestic gas is sacrosanct, only for the people.
No one ever thinks about the water. Or the toilet paper, as it were.
But these are among the many, many staples that become luxuries when one's nation is in crisis.
Hours ago, the local gas company in Kiev (Kyivenergo) announced that they would be shutting off the hot water supply to most of the city.
While the official reason for the hot water shutoff is that Kyivenergo (the energy supplier to Kiev) owes a debt to the Ukrainian state gas company (Naftogaz) of over $100 million.
It's just a quirky little coincidence that this debt suddenly became materially important only one week after Russia shut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine.
Funny thing is that Ukrainian politicians for years had been telling people not to worry about this.
You see, Ukraine has its own domestic natural gas supplies. And they tell people that the domestic gas is strictly for the people and their utilities (like hot water).
Russian gas, according to this story, is imported for businesses to use. But that domestic gas is sacrosanct, only for the people.
