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Gas supplies hit in siphoning row
Source: Agencies |
January 4, 2009, Sunday
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RUSSIAN gas flows to four European Union countries were below normal levels yesterday after Moscow cut off supplies to Ukraine in a pricing dispute, and there were no talks in sight to resolve the dispute.
Ukraine had siphoned some of Russia's natural gas shipments to the Balkans, the nation's gas monopoly Gazprom claimed a day after it cut supplies to Ukraine.
But Ukraine's Naftogaz company said it was only using some of the gas Russia pumps through the country to keep its pipelines operating.
With temperatures below zero overnight in Europe, Bulgaria's Bulgargaz operator joined energy firms in Poland, Romania and Hungary in saying they had noted falls in supply, though flows to Europe's biggest economy, Germany, were not affected.
The European Union, which gets a fifth of its gas from pipelines that cross Ukraine, said it would call a crisis meeting of envoys in Brussels tomorrow and demanded that transit and supply contracts be honored.
Russia halted all supplies to Ukraine on New Year's Day in what it called a purely commercial dispute, but in the background is a fierce disagreement over a drive by Kiev's pro-Western leaders to join NATO.
European fears of gas flows dropping off in the dead of winter were becoming a reality - and Russia's reputation as a reliable gas supplier was under new scrutiny.
Ukraine had siphoned some of Russia's natural gas shipments to the Balkans, the nation's gas monopoly Gazprom claimed a day after it cut supplies to Ukraine.
But Ukraine's Naftogaz company said it was only using some of the gas Russia pumps through the country to keep its pipelines operating.
With temperatures below zero overnight in Europe, Bulgaria's Bulgargaz operator joined energy firms in Poland, Romania and Hungary in saying they had noted falls in supply, though flows to Europe's biggest economy, Germany, were not affected.
The European Union, which gets a fifth of its gas from pipelines that cross Ukraine, said it would call a crisis meeting of envoys in Brussels tomorrow and demanded that transit and supply contracts be honored.
Russia halted all supplies to Ukraine on New Year's Day in what it called a purely commercial dispute, but in the background is a fierce disagreement over a drive by Kiev's pro-Western leaders to join NATO.
European fears of gas flows dropping off in the dead of winter were becoming a reality - and Russia's reputation as a reliable gas supplier was under new scrutiny.
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