Russia’s Putin cancels Black Sea deals with Kiev

Russian President Vladimir Putin has endorsed the cancellation of bilateral agreements with Ukraine relating to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

Putin signed a law denouncing four bilateral agreements with Kiev, including the 1997 treaty related to the deployment of the Black Sea fleet on Ukrainian territory, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

The new law invalidates agreements, which include suspending an annual payment of USD 530 million to Kiev for its Black Sea base in Sevastopol as well as discontinuing writing off nearly USD 100 million of Kiev’s debt for the right to use the Ukrainian waters.

In addition, the new legislation nullifies an agreement between the two countries, under which Russia granted Kiev a discount of USD 100 per 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas.

The price for Kiev to import the Russian gas is expected to rise to USD 485.50. The rise comes just days after Russian Energy giant Gazprom announced it would increase gas prices for Ukraine by USD 100 from 285.50 dollars, as Ukraine has failed to pay 1.7 billion dollars in unpaid bills.

On March 28, Putin submitted a proposal to the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, on terminating a number of deals with Ukraine over the Black Sea Fleet.

The lower house of parliament passed the law on March 31 and on the following day, the Federation Council, the country’s upper house, also gave its approval.

The Kremlin’s official website has earlier reported that the essence of the Russian-Ukrainian agreements was lost following Crimea’s reintegration with Russia.

Crimea declared independence from Ukraine and formally applied to become part of the Russian Federation following a referendum on March 16, in which nearly 97 percent of voters in Crimea said yes to reunion with Russia.

On March 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law documents that officially made the Black Sea peninsula part of the Russian territory.