Joe “Greenlight” Biden Lands In Kiev—–So Bombs Will Be Landing Soon On The Women & Children Of Donbas | David Stockman's Contra Corner

US Vice President Joe Biden’s plane has touched down in the Ukrainian capitol to meet with US-backed president, Petro Poroshenko, and prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk. If the past is prologue, we should expect a full-fledged assault by Kiev on the breakaway eastern part of the country to begin at anytime.

Biden’s last trip to Ukraine was in April, where he told unelected post-coup prime minister Yatsenyuk that “You will not walk this road alone. We will walk it with you.” Within days of Biden’s assurance of support, Kiev’s offensive on eastern Ukraine markedly intensified. Soon thereafter, artillery shells fell on densely-populated civilian centers killing hundreds at a dramatically increased rate.

The two Ukrainian leaders took power after a US and EU-backed coup overthrew the elected government in February. They are expected to again ask the US administration for the overt provision of deadly force to be used against those seeking independence in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions. The US has thus far declined to overtly provide lethal weapons, though several visits by top CIA officials and US Special Forces suggest that covert assistance and training may already have been provided.

Today, the US government announced that it would increase “non-lethal” aid to the Ukrainian government — aid that includes radars to accurately pinpoint targets in the breakaway east. Senator John McCain, who will soon take over as Chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, is furious that the US is not directly arming Kiev and pressing the conflict right up to Russia’s border.

Complete story at - Joe “Greenlight” Biden Lands In Kiev—–So Bombs Will Be Landing Soon On The Women&Children Of Donbas | David Stockman's Contra Corner

BFP Exclusive-Stench of Corruption a Ukraine Oligarch Shale Gas Civil War & Baby Biden

Hunter Biden & A Dodgy Company Called Burisma

Ukrainian politics has had the stench of corruption since the free-for-all to loot the country following the declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. However today, some five months after the gangster-led Washington-orchestrated coup d’etat that put the present regime illegally in power in Kiev, that stench is becoming unbearable. Now it involves the case of Ukraine’s deposits of shale gas.

According to a survey done for the US Department of Energy two years ago, Ukraine could have 42 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of shale gas resources technically recoverable from 197 tcf of total shale gas in place. Annually, to put that into perspective, Ukraine is transit (or was until a few weeks ago) to 3 Tcf of Russian natural gas destined for Germany, Austria and other countries. Ukraine itself consumes some 1.8 Tcf annually of natural gas. So some shrewd Ukrainian businessmen along with the ever-politically engaged Royal Dutch Shell—the Dutch-UK energy giant, decided they would drill that shale and frack it like they are doing in Texas today. Here is where it gets really interesting.

Burisma Holdings

The Ukrainian company that has grabbed (literally) the lease rights to the lion’s share of Ukraine’s shale area is called Burisma Holdings. Burisma Holdings is Ukraine’s largest natural gas producer so that in itself is not that surprising. But wait. It gets smellier. Burisma Holdings is the company that raised eyebrows a few months ago when they announced they had hired the son of the US Vice President to handle their legal division and all international relations of the company. Hunter Biden was also given a seat on Burisma’s board of directors. [1]

What’s wrong with that, you ask? Is the father responsible for his adult son? Or could it be something uglier still. Was “Baby” Biden explicitly chosen as Billy Carter was chosen by the Libyan government, because he was the son of a powerful man in Washington and would be the link between Burisma Holdings and the Obama Administration? Here we can make an educated guess that the answer is yes.

Joe Biden and son Hunter Biden came under fire back in 2005 when Joe Biden was an influential Senator before becoming Vice President. MBNA, then the world’s largest private credit card issuer hired Baby Biden as the company’s Vice President. At the same time Senator Biden was then receiving his largest campaign contributions from MBNA and, conveniently for MBNA, was lobbying other Senators to pass bankruptcy reform legislation supported by MBNA. US media referred critically to Senator Biden at the time as the “Senator from MBNA.” [2]

Complete story at - BFP Exclusive-Stench of Corruption a Ukraine Oligarch Shale Gas Civil War & Baby Biden

Company In Which Joe Biden's Son Is Director Prepares To Drill Shale Gas In East Ukraine | Zero Hedge

Recall what we said earlier today: the proxy Ukraine war just like that in Syria preceding it, "is all about energy."

Recall also the following chart showing Ukraine's shale gas deposits, keeping in mind that the Dnieper-Donets basin which lies in the hotly contested eastern part of the nation and where as everyone knows by now a bloody civil war is raging, is the major oil and gas producing region of Ukraine accounting for approximately 90 per cent of Ukrainian production and according to EIA may have 42 tcf of shale gas resources technically recoverable from 197 tcf of risked shale gas in place.



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Still confused? It's very simple, really.

In a nutshell Ukraine (or rather its puppetmasters) has decided to let no crisis (staged or otherwise) or rather civil war, go to waste, and while the fighting rages all around, Ukrainian troopers are helping to install shale gas production equipment near the east Ukrainian town of Slavyansk, which was bombed and shelled for the three preceding months, according to local residents cited by Itar Tass. The reason for the scramble? Under peacetime, the process was expected to take many years, during which Europe would be under the energy dictatorship of Putin. But throw in some civil war and few will notice let alone care that a process which was expected to take nearly a decade if not longer while dealing with broad popular objections to fracking, may instead be completed in months!

“Civilians protected by Ukrainian army are getting ready to install drilling rigs. More equipment is being brought in,” they said, adding that the military are encircling the future extraction area.

The people of Slavyansk, which is located in the heart of the Yzovka shale gas field, staged numerous protest actions in the past against its development. They even wanted to call in a referendum on that subject. Environmentalists are particularly concerned with the consequences of hydrofracing, a method used for shale gas extraction, because it implies the use of extremely toxic chemical agents which can poison not only subsoil waters but also the atmosphere. Experts claim that not a single country in the world has invented a method of utilization of harmful toxic agents in the process of development of shale gas deposits.

Countries like the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and France have given up plans to develop shale gas deposits in their territories.

Complete story at - Company In Which Joe Biden's Son Is Director Prepares To Drill Shale Gas In East Ukraine | Zero Hedge

Olga Chetverikova - Donbass: Russians Subject to Unparalleled Ethnic Cleansing - Strategic Culture Foundation

Olga CHETVERIKOVA | 06.07.2014 | 00:00

The Ukrainian army continues a large-scale offensive against the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. Indiscriminate shelling results in more civilian deaths. Grad, Uragan and Smerch multiple launch rocket systems were used in Nikolaevka to practically wipe this populated area out from the earth. There is no connection with the town so it’s impossible to know exactly what the death toll is. Semionovka and Slavyansk living quarters are regularly subject to regular bombing. Life support systems in Slavyansk are out of order; the city is encircled and blocked. Cars trying to get out are shot at.

The details of the bloodshed are to be studied before they become known to public. In late January 2013 when former President Yanukovych still was in power, the Ukrainian government and Royal Dutch Shell inked the country's first major shale gas 50 year profit sharing agreement. Shell plans to develop the Yuzov field in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions. In June 2014 the company confirmed its intention to go on with the agreement as soon as the conflict gets de-escalated and the situation stabilizes. The information about the deal is classified. The Ukrainian government allegedly cannot refuse the extension of its term. The territory to be explored is 7886 square kilometers, including Slavyansk (situated right in the heart of deposit), Izium, a major part of Kramatorsk and a large number of smaller populated areas like, for instance, Krasny Liman, Seversk, Yasnogorsk, Kamyshevka etc.

In accordance with article 37.2 of the agreement, the local residents have to sell their land and property. In case of refusal they are to be coerced to do it to serve the Shell’s interests. The company’s expenditure is to be compensated by Ukraine at the expense of produced gas.



The government takes on responsibility for finding a solution to all the problems with local authorities.

There are other actors involved in shale gas projects in Ukraine:

- Eurogas Ukraine, some of its shares are owned by British Macallan Oil & Gas (UK) Ltd, which belongs to US Euro Gas;

- Burisma Holdings, with Hunter Biden, the son of US Vice President being a member of board of directors.

Complete story at - Olga Chetverikova - Donbass: Russians Subject to Unparalleled Ethnic Cleansing - Strategic Culture Foundation

The Farce Is Complete: Joe Biden's Son Joins Board Of Largest Ukraine Gas Producer | Zero Hedge

R. Hunter Biden will be in charge of the Holdings’ legal unit and will provide support for the Company among international organizations. On his new appointment, he commented: “Burisma’s track record of innovations and industry leadership in the field of natural gas means that it can be a strong driver of a strong economy in Ukraine. As a new member of the Board, I believe that my assistance in consulting the Company on matters of transparency, corporate governance and responsibility, international expansion and other priorities will contribute to the economy and benefit the people of Ukraine.”

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Burisma Holdings, Mr. Alan Apter, noted: “The company’s strategy is aimed at the strongest concentration of professional staff and the introduction of best corporate practices, and we’re delighted that Mr. Biden is joining us to help us achieve these goals.”

R. Hunter Biden is a counsel to Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, a national law firm based in New York, USA, which served in cases including “Bush vs. Gore”, and “U.S. vs. Microsoft”. He is one of the co-founders and a managing partner of the investment advisory company Rosemont Seneca Partners, as well as chairman of the board of Rosemont Seneca Advisors. He is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University’s Masters Program in the School of Foreign Service.

Complete story at - The Farce Is Complete: Joe Biden's Son Joins Board Of Largest Ukraine Gas Producer | Zero Hedge

Ukraine’s Unpaid Russian Gas Bills Dwarf U.S. Aid Offer - Businessweek

Ukraine’s best hope for keeping furnaces and factories running through next winter is to store as much natural gas as it can after a U.S. aid pledge fell far short of the nation’s needs.

Energy supplies have given Russian leader Vladimir Putin powerful economic leverage in his battle with Ukraine. The former Soviet republic gets half its gas from Russia, and it’s the transit route for 50 to 60 percent of the gas Russia sells to other European nations.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told Ukrainian leaders this week that the U.S. would provide help so that “Russia can no longer use energy as a weapon.” Biden announced $50 million in aid, an unspecified part of which would go to develop the country’s gas reserves, explore alternative energy and improve efficiency.

Russia responded yesterday, when Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Ukraine would have to prepay for gas shipments unless it starts paying down the $2.2 billion debt it’s accumulated through March.

Tensions escalated today as Ukrainian military units moved against pro-Russia separatists in several eastern cities, prompting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to threaten retaliation if his country’s “legitimate interests” are “attacked directly.”

Complete story at - Ukraine’s Unpaid Russian Gas Bills Dwarf U.S. Aid Offer - Businessweek