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Cut off for almost two weeks by a dispute between the ex-Soviet states, Ukraine and Russian Federation (Russia) signed a 10-year gas supply deal on 19, January Monday to clear the way for the resumption of supplies to a freezing Europe. Vladimir Putin, Russian Prime Minister, said Ukraine will purchase Russian gas in 2009 at 20 percent discount compared with European market prices at the signing ceremony. But the exact price was not revealed. The agreement was signed by the chief executive of Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom, Alexei Miller, and the head of Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz, Oleh Dubyna.

In a joint news conference with his Ukrainian counterpart, Yulia Tymoshenko, Mr. Putin said “Gazprom received an order to start deliveries through all routes indicated by our Ukrainian partners and in full volumes.” On the other hand, Tymoshenko, who flew back to Moscow, the capital city of Russia, to attend the ceremony after clinching a weekend deal with his Russian counterpart Mr. Putin, said gas transit to Europe would resume after Russian gas reached Ukraine. Earlier Gazprom had said gas supplies would resume in Europe immediately after the signing. Experts say it will take around 36 hours for the first Russian gas to cross Ukraine and enter Europe.

Earlier on 1 January Russia cut supplies to Ukraine as Kiev would not pay higher prices for its gas. After six days, export flows to Europe through Ukraine ceased amid Russian accusations that Kiev was “stealing” gas intended for export. As a result, the wrangle between Moscow and Kiev enraged the European Union (EU) and raised question the credibility of Russia and Ukraine as gas suppliers to Europe. However, Ukraine’s pro-Western leaders denied the Moscow’s accusation, and countered that Moscow was trying to blackmail European consumers by halting gas supplies.

Ukraine said it could not afford to pay higher prices as it is heading into its worst recession in a decade. According to analysts forecast its economy will shrink by up to five percent in this year. Additionally, both countries have agreed not to use intermediaries in the gas trade. Previous deals have been complicated by the use of Swiss-based intermediary Rosukrenergo. Experts says the new deal strong the bond between two countries.

Recently Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh, Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran, has met India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to discuss on the proposed 7.4 billion dollar tri-nation – Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project. The two countries discussed ways to crack the deadlock over this project because India has been boycotting, since August 2007, talks over tri-nation pipeline project, by reason of the transit fee demanded by Pakistani Government for passage of gas through their country.

On the other hand, earlier of this official meeting, both countries had decided to make a trilateral Ministerial mechanism to resolve a range of issues related to the project. According to the mechanism, the Oil Ministers level meeting among India, Pakistan and Iran will go on to address various issues related to the project.

While both General Motors (GM) and Chrysler have said they need instant cash injections to survive with current economy, the White House has insisted strictly it will not be rushed into providing a special lifeline for struggling American automakers. In a usual daily press briefing at the White House, Dana Perino, spokeswoman, said the Bush government would move to organize a bailout in an orderly fashion, but would not be rushed into it.

On the other hand, whereas the Bush administration is continuing its review of position of the US automakers, Nicolas Sarkozy, French President, has warned that the EU could become an industrial wasteland without European Union support for its automakers. French President has suggested assist could get the form of loans for customers to purchase environmentally friendly cars.

The BBC, one of the state-funded broadcasters in the UK, has offered to assist some free-to-air broadcasters survive. According to a report, the authority of BBC has announced it will share resources with others as latest digital competition catches up with broadcasters who completely rely on advertising revenue. In a news conference Mark Thompson, Director-General, has said, “The BBC knows that it is relatively certain of funding and its scale and technology places it in a privileged position to potentially assist the rest of the industry.”

On the other hand, public-service license holders in UK are obliged to show a fixed quantity of programming such as kids‘ shows and local news in exchange for tax breaks on analog spectrum and entire access to any British homes. During the last year, the BBC earned around 3.4 billion pounds in fees. Therefore, it would like funding to maintain at same rate in return for helping some other terrestrial stations.