Gas Truce – was it lose/lose, win/lose or win/win? (continued)

Газовый контракт не выгоден Украине, и, наверное, есть политическая часть?

Польский эксперт топливного рынка Анджей Щесняк считает, что российско-украинское газовое соглашение имеет не обнародованное, сугубо политическое дополнение. Эксперт убежден, что, возможно, речь идет о будущих президентских выборах в Украине. Об этом сообщает ZIK со ссылкой на «Польское радио».

Эксперт Анджей Щесняк считает, что российско-украинское газовое соглашение – очень невыгодно для Украины: «Если сравнить начальные условия, с которыми стороны входили в этот кризис, еще в прошлом году, с тем, что имеем теперь, то видно, что цена 360-370 долларов за тысячу кубических метров, – это для Украины очень не выгодно. Вместо этого, сохранены очень выгодные для России ставки транзита газа. В частности, Анджей Щесняк добавил, что успехом России является гарантия перехода на рыночные цены на газ, которую дала Украина.

«Ввиду таких не полезных для Украины номинальных условий соглашения, то, похоже, существует необходимость того, чтобы они были дополнены какими-то мелкими буквами, какими-то политическими условиями, которые вместо этого будут полезными для Украины. Я думаю о промышленности Восточной Украины, поскольку это для нее та новая цена на газ, а не для индивидуальных получателей. А с другой стороны, очевидно, речь шла о политическом понимании между руководством России и премьер-министром Юлией Тимошенко в ее стремлении политической власти в Украине. Здесь, по-видимому, также о чем-то договорено».

Gas Truce – was it lose/lose, win/lose or win/win? (continued)

Криль: не надо обманывать, газ подорожал в два раза

«В газовых договоренностях ТИМОШЕНКО-ПУТИНА интересы Украины не учтены. Фактически, Украина согласилась дотировать российскую экономику. С тем же успехом договариваться о цене на газ можно было посылать Петра СИМОНЕНКО», – так прокомментировал народный депутат Украины, лидер “Единого центра” Игорь КРИЛЬ подписание газовых договоренностей премьер-министра Украины Юлии ТИМОШЕНКО в Москве.

Как сообщили УНИАН в пресс-службе “Единого центра”, И.КРИЛЬ заявил, что в результате многомесячных переговоров все свелось к тому, что «Газпром» выставил свои условия, а глава правительства Украины на них согласилась. «В таком случае неизвестно, для чего было тратить бюджетные средства и так часто отправлять правительственные делегации в Москву», – отмечает председатель “Единого центра”.

По мнению И.КРИЛЯ, «не нужно вводить в заблуждение людей. Мы будем платить за газ 360 долларов, а не 235, как сегодня говорит Кабмин. Это сокрушительный удар, который собственное правительство нанесло экономике страны». «По сравнению с прошлым годом цена выросла вдвое. Это может нанести смертельный удар металлургам, химикам, другим отраслям», – отметил народный депутат.

«Разрекламированная Юлией ТИМОШЕНКО скидка на цену газа – это насмешка над Украиной. Европейская цена – это стоимость самого газа плюс транзит из России к конечному потребителю. Естественно, что у Украины она должна быть более низкой, ведь мы не можем платить за транзит сами себе», – отметил И.КРИЛЬ.

Политик считает, что за эту вымышленную «скидку» Украина платит реальными деньгами. «Сохранение льготной цены на транзит газа – это фактически дотации российской экономике на сумму около 3,5-4 млрд. долларов ежегодно. А это – 14 годовых бюджетов Львова, или 9 годовых бюджетов Харькова, или 50 бюджетов Полтавы», – отметил И.КРИЛЬ.

Как сообщал УНИАН, 19 января с.г. в Москве были подписаны газовые контракты между НАК «Нафтогаз Украины» и ОАО «Газпром». В частности, был подписан договор купли-продажи газа на 2009-2019 годы.

После церемонии подписания газовых контрактов премьер-министр Российской Федерации Владимир ПУТИН заявил, что Украина получила в 2009 году скидку на газ в размере 20% с сохранением ставки транзита на уровне прошлого года.

О среднегодовой цене газа для Украины будет сообщено через 1-2 дня.

Источник в украинской делегации сообщил УНИАН, что в 2009 году среднегодовая цена на газ, который покупается Украиной в России, может составлять 235 долларов за тысячу кубометров.

В то же время председатель “Газпрома” Алексей МИЛЛЕР на встрече с Президентом РФ Дмитрием МЕДВЕДЕВЫМ сообщил: “В первом квартале этого года газ будет поставляться по рыночной формуле цены, и базовая цена будет составлять 450 долларов. С учетом снижающего коэффициента в 20% цена будет составлять 360 долларов”. При этом председатель “Газпрома” отметил, что, поскольку цены на газ будут исчисляться в зависимости от цен на нефтепродукты, стоимость газа для Украины может меняться.

Gas Truce – was it lose/lose, win/lose or win/win? (continued)

Gas truce – was it lose/lose, win/lose or win/win?

C-Men at River Palace December 11th!

The C-Men are hitting “the Love Boat” (River Palace) for a rip-roaring show on December 11th, start time 10 pm.  Apart from the usual sweaty punk madness, we’ll be offering copies of our debut CD, provisionally entitled A Taste of C-Men.  Since admission to the gig is free, you can afford to buy two or three copies (Christmas is coming and your grandmother would love it!)

Great debate on Canadian identity

Listener\’s Choice – October 10th, 2008 – Canada: Nation or Notion?

Do give it a listen.

@Traktor, Asleep in the Park and The C-Men at Bochka Khmilna, Oct. 5th, 2008

Oct. 8th, 2008 | 11:12 am
mood: cheerful

Now that was fun.

We were very grateful to be asked to perform as special guests and what we knew would be a great show and we weren’t disappointed.

I got to Bochka at 7 am for soundcheck, finding myself the only C-Man there at that time.  Various bodies were scattered around, however, mostly of Australian extraction.  Marty and his ever-present winter hat seemed to be the most lively.  Max was right out of it with fatigue, barely clinging to the stair upon which she had perched herself.  Simon and Naomi were laid out on the bench seats, somehow managing to sleep while the preternaturally perky Sasha and Alyona of @Traktor went through their check.  Eventually, other C-People showed up, except for Mick, who lives (I think) in Minsk and is a prima donna

I was absolutely calm right up until we started, but then my right leg started shaking as though it were possessed by Elvis.  The others were their normal selves and seemed unaffected, especially the real “showmen” in the band, Mick and Ira.  At one point, Ira had some young fan licking her knee.  Mick was clearly enraged with envy and – no matter how much his thrust his extremities at the audience – no one took it upon him/herself to lick them.

We did our 11 songs and hied off the stage, to make way for Asleep in the Park.  Man, they were good.  I’m never really sure just how to categorise their music; I just know that I like it.  Really well-written tunes, with unforgettable hooks and played with an extraordinary amount of energy.  They really got people moving.  And they played both “Skeleton” (my favourite tune of theirs,) as well as “Jailbreak,” by AC/DC!  What more could I ask?

@Traktor is not a band suited for quiet reflection.  Sasha and Alyona really bang it out and the audience lapped it up.  They gained a huge fan immediately in the person of our Ira, who gushed enthusiastically about their performance.

All in all, although 50 UAH is a lot for many people, I truly believe they got their money’s worth.

P.S.  Irka has correctly pointed out that AITP did NOT play “Jailbreak,” but rather “TNT” by AC/DC/  This is a clear case of my believing what I wanted to believe.

Too tired to be jittery

Just a couple of hours before the Bochka gig…

Still tired.  Got up at 05:45 this morning, to have a cup of coffee before heading off to the incredibly early soundcheck.  I got to Bochka about five minutes early, in time to be way earlier than any other C-Man.

As I walked in, I had to pass on the stairs an obviously shattered Maxine, keyboards and vocals for Asleep in the Park.  They played a cracker in Sumy last night and drove straight to Bochka.  Marty, Asleep’s guitarist, was in better form, laughing, joking and even managing to dance to @Traktor’s soundcheck. Simon and Naomi – drums and bass, respectively, were passed out on the bench seats by the side of the room. As Sasha and Alyona thundered, they slept on, but as soon as the music stopped, Naomi stirred!

Ira stumbled in, then Dave.  Mick the Prima Donna, was comfortably asleep at home, more than likely under his Fantastic Four blanket and sporting his Bob the Builder pyjamas.

Ira, Dave and I got up, did 3 songs and went home.  I had promoised to take the kids to watch rugby today and then MacDonald’s.  Almost fell asleep why watching the matches, which is something of a commentary on the quality of the rugby played.

Just woke up after a short restorative nap and am getting all of one’s stuff together for the big gig.

Wish us luck.

Less biased gig review (i.e., NOT by me)

http://uamuzik.blogspot.com/2008/10/clockwork-punk-played-with-heart-and.html

Clockwork punk – played with heart and soul

What happens when you put together two men in their mid-forties, one of them Leeds, the other from Montreal (NDG actually), a girl from Kyiv, and a third guy who is just more than half a century old? I myself wasn’t too certain myself until Saturday September 27, when I went out to O’Brien’s Irish Pub in the centre of Ukraine’s capital city.

I had met three of the four before that Saturday, but until you have all the personalities in one place its a hard one to call, especially when the second Brit is the guy who helps keep everything running like punk clockwork.

They’re called the C-MEN. Don’t ask me why? But I will find out someday! [Blair, maybe you can elucidate us all?]

The band has branded themselves as Kyiv’s “oldest punk band” and this is quite clear that they are, just do the math.

The gig was a lot of fun and brought back memories. Songs like Blitzkrieg Bop by the Ramones but played with such energy that not many people could stay still, and their own rendition of ABBA’s Mama Mia… well that was something else!

While this isn’t Ukrainian music all the musicians played with a great deal of soul and simply showed that they love music and producing it. But besides, this most of those people in the audience seemed to be enjoying what they were hearing, and the mean age at the gig was probably about 36 years of age… a mix of ex-pats and locals.

You may wonder why I bring up the mean age at the gig. It’s quite simple, it stems from an interview I read of a friend of mine, Andriy Riffmaster Antonenko, in a local music trade publication MuzTorg.

When asked it was difficult to be a professional rock-guitarist in Ukraine, Riffmaster replied:

Here – is more than difficult. The reason – the need for rock music ends with teenagers. In the West concerts are attended by 40 and 50 year old’s, there, its part of the culture, and no one considers that heavy rock is the emission of aggression. Here, unfortunately, there is no mass consumption of rock music. Groups grow to their level and… they begin to bend over under the weight of their own mastery. Also here we don’t have any interested management, that is capable of bringing rock up to an appropriate commercial level, in the right understanding of this word. For producers – its straighter, and more important, to quickly make money by take the sweet voice of a young girl, or create some “drinking songs”. Slavic mentality is playing a nasty joke with rock music.

Well, it clearly hasn’t been playing any tricks on those of the younger crowd at the gig last Saturday night, nor they youngest member of the band Irina, who clearly has a great knowledge of music compared to most 19 year old’s I meet her. She can handle her bass guitar pretty well too.

If you are in Kyiv, this coming weekend, and want to hear Kyiv’s “oldest punk band”, head down to Bochka Khmilna located at 3 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho on Sunday night at 20:00…

Why such an early start? They will be opening for Australia’s Asleep in the Park and Kyiv’s very own @Traktor, a new project of Oleksandr Pipa’s, formerly of VV and Borsch. And there you will see: Mick Lake,David Michael Rothwell Lee, Irina Nalivaiko and Blair Sheridan.

Hugely biased gig review

While it would clearly be better for someone else to review the gig, no one seems to be rushing to do so.  I can only ascribe the negligence to some kind of global internet failure and not to apathy.

Where to begin?  I was a little disappointed in the turn-out, having been fairly confident that we would get somewhere around 150.  In the end, it was 120.  Ah, well, it’s a start.  And this gig truly was out start, as I’ve written elsewhere, inasmuch as we were the only band playing and it was not only Ira’s first gig with us, but her first gig ever.  More on that later.

Des (O’Brien’s manager, who was really positive and helpful on the night) was a little but scared when he saw the gear we had brought.  Two 200-watt guitar amps, a 300-watt bass amp and a full P.A. system.  He was under the impression that it might be a bit loud.  I reassured him that it wouldn’t be and was unknowingly lying through my teeth.  It was bloody loud!

Everyone changed into the gig togs, some showing considerably more imagination than others.  Mick wore his patriotic Leeds 6 shirt and his way-over-the-top (in a good way) leopard skin drape, as well as the ubiquitous leather porkpie hat.  Ira went glam-o-rama, in zebra skin pants, high heels and pink halter top (she is a show-off.)  Dave and I were the fashion zeroes, both of us wearing stuff like we wear daily.  Losers.

Started off with a roaring version of “Sonic Reducer.”  I thought it sounded really tight and was feeling pretty good about things.  Maksim the Sound Guy, though, was still working out the levels, meaning that my mike couldn’t be heard.  However, any of you who have ever heard me sing will know that this was no great loss.  Mick remembered all the words and Ira was well into her rock star posing, which later reached the true heights of hair-metal.

“The KKK Took My Baby Away” got a good round of applause when we played it for a sound check, and repeated its success when we played it for real.  It’s a great tune and – let’s face it – it’s hard to fuck up.  And we didn’t.

“White Riot” rocked too.  We only recently added it to the set and I’m glad we did.

“Bodies” was possibly the highlight of the night.  The beginning sounded meaty and I love playing this one.  By this time, Ira’s rather attractive friends were dancing away right in front of us.  Despite this raw display of female Ukrainian pulchritude, Mick and managed to stay “on message” and keep our minds on chords and lyrics, but it wasn’t easy.

I’m far too lazy to describe every song, so here’s a rough round-up:   Teenage Kicks, Human Fly, Blitzkrieg Bop, Brand New Cadillac, Peter Gunn and Rockaway Beach all turned out well (though I think our inclusion of Peter Gunn had a few people scratching their heads.)

I Fought the Law, Pretty Vacant, Mamma Mia and Sound of Silence were slightly ropey, with some muffed lyrics and a couple of other flubs, but nothing disastrous.  Some people I spoke to later really liked the idea of us doing Mamma Mia and Sound of Silence, though, so far from a total debacle.

Despite the fact that I unaccountably blew a riff in Baby Elephant Walk, it went over really well!  It’s such a weird song to play that I love it.  I vote for Eine Kleine Nachtmusik to be added!

Things were put back in complete order with Anarchy in the U.K., God Save the Queen (no protests from any monarchists present) and Sheena Is A Punk Rocker.  By this time, Mick and Ira were in full flow, with Mick having shed both drape and hat and looking imperious in his muscle shirt.  If he could now develop muscles, we’d be away.  Ira, meanwhile, was off on Planet Poison, doing Nigel Tuffnel-esque leanbacks and nearly somersaults in her quest to win the 1st International Rock Posing Competition.  With her high heel up on the monitor, I had a brief mental glimpse of Gene Simmons, but Ira’s a lot nicer to look at.

I was beginning to fear total hearing loss by this time.  It felt as though my head was imploding anytime I got to close to the P.A. columns, which sent me scurrying back to my place, only to realise that my monitor was also blasting at brain damage level.  Such are the dangers of rock ‘n’ roll.

I Wanna Be Your Dog always brings out the best in Mick and this time was no exception.  He nailed it and I could see some serious pogo-ing going on in the audience, despite my averting my eyes from the aforementioned front-row babes.

We ended with a raucous version of Louie Louie.  Is there anyone who doesn’t love that song?  I didn’t think so.

We trooped off very tired, cognizant of mistakes made and in need of improvement, but overall pretty damned happy. 

And, we found out that we’ve been asked to support Asleep in the Park and @Traktor at Bochka on October 5th, which pleases me no end.

See ya.