[Great Soul Searching] Celebrating Magnanimity in the Crisis: #2 Gazprom Will Not Fine Ukraine For Violating Its Gas Contract

Long term observers of the saga that is Russian gas supplies to and through Ukraine will allow themselves a wry smile at the latest development.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has announced that Gazprom will waive the $2 billion fine it could technically impose on Ukraine, after Ukraine purchased less natural gas than the bilateral supply contract dictates.

When the taps were turned off in January, Ukraine reached a hurried deal with Russia to get the gas flowing again, agreeing to purchase 40 billion cubic meters of gas in 2009.  But Ukrainian demand has dropped amid the financial crisis, and having taken just 2.5 billion cubic meters in Q1, its consumption for the year is shaping up to be more like 33 billion cubic meters.

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[Great Soul Searching] Celebrating Magnanimity in the Crisis: #1 President Yuschenko gives Prime Minister Timoshenko a ride in his jet

The crisis is prompting great introspection, and worse, it is being used by some as an opportunity to extract revenge. But it is also bringing out the best in people, with previously hidden magnanimity being revealed. This is a cross-cultural phenomenon. The very word is anglicized from “magna anima” which means “great soul”, and curiously the Russian word, Великодушие has an equally clear etymology. On CrisisCrunch, we celebrate this new generosity of spirit in this occasional series. Read more »