RIGA – Excerpts from an interview with Juris Savickis published in Diena newspaper on May 19, 2008. A former KGB officer, Savickis is now involved in energy, chairs the Russian chapter of Itera energy company and sits on the board of Latvian gas monopoly Latvijas Gaze. Original can be found on the Diena newspaper Web site.
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So you’re saying that 10 years later Latvia’s 70 per cent dependence on Russia gas would be okay? Is that your vision?
My vision is the same as yours – we have to find an independent source… Why am I not afraid of Russians? All our experience shows that there has never been a single moment when Russians somehow managed to influence us through gas. A monument ought to erected to Juris Savickis and Adrians Davis because we’ve managed to make sure that prices rise gradually in the last ten years when Russians decided to raise them really quickly a long time ago. Russians own 34 per cent of Latvijas Gaze. Four men from Gazprom sit on the board of Latvijas Gaze. They work as a lobby with Gazprom so the prices wouldn’t be raised because we’ve approved a Latvijas Gaze program for three years with investment and everything else. I had a thought that in the construction of a new power plant we need to involve Russians and Germans, but everyone jumped on my case for political reasons. What’s he want from those Russians? Germans are very attentive, very precise in following everything – there are many pluses there. On the other hand, Russians never neglect their property. All history of Latvijas Gaze shows that they understand it and it benefits us. Another reason why I’m not afraid of Russians is because we have [natural gas storage in] Inčukalns. Don’t underestimate it – it’s a colossal argument against Russia. 600 to 800 million cubic meters of gas goes from Inčukalns to Russia. In those regions, they only can sell gas from Inčukalns. We have 5.7 billion cubic meters of gas in Inčukalns. We can survive five years without the Russian gas.
The EU is afraid of its dependence on Russia for energy resources not because they’re worried that Russia would turn the gas off – Russia needs customers. The fear is that Russia’s energy policy is defined as a strategic weapon in formation of the foreign-policy discussions.
Those are two different questions. First one is that Russians use gas a political weapon. I absolutely cannot agree with this thesis. In my opinion everything is quite the opposite. In my view, gas is used as a political weapon against Russia.
Who uses it?
Russians haven’t violated a single agreement. Even with Ukraine and Belarus. I know everything in detail what really happened in Ukraine and Belarus.
You’re saying that Russian gas isn’t a political weapon. Why then in your interviews, you’ve said that they were worried that Latvia harms Russia? If it’s a clean business – one side harms Russia, the other trade with gas. Why are you saying that Latvian television should not have shown Putin’s System documentary before the Russian elections if it’s got no connection with politics.
It’s got no connection with gas politics.
Why then you were concerned about [a rescheduled anti-Putin documentary]Putin’s System [that was to be shown on Latvian TV on the eve of the parliamentary elections]?
Now you’ve moved into political questions about which I wouldn’t want to talk. It had no connection with politics. All agreements are fulfilled. Latvia’s relationship with Russia doesn’t stop with only gas and electricity. There are sprats and hell knows what else – then starts politics. I wasn’t shocked about the documentary but I had a few questions. For example, why did you make a ruckus about the question who canceled the film? I have another question – why weren’t you asking who scheduled the film in that time for our taxpayers money?
Latvian Constitution says that censorship is forbidden.
All people who scheduled that film – they were thinking what they were doing?
Yes, and they know that Latvia is not part of Russia and here censorship doesn’t work.
Why wasn’t the film shown a month earlier?
Why not show it on the same day? It’s timely.
Okay, we’re a free people. Why wouldn’t we now show a film about Clinton and Lewiski?
If you have a specific film, offer it to Latvian television and they’ll show it with pleasure.
No, they won’t.
Why not?
Because they won’t. It’s the same as with that monument – why did Estonia have to move the [Bronze Soldier] Alyosha near May 9? Do it in September, October. Your neighbor urinates on the steps when another is celebrating his birthday. but he pees on his own steps, not the neighbor’s, because he’s afraid to go near the other steps. That’s the level we’re talking about here.
