Russia’s gas dispute with Ukraine cut supplies to the Balkans, Turkey and southeast Europe.
Russia’s gas dispute with Ukraine cut supplies to the Balkans, Turkey and southeast Europe. The European Union said the situation was ‘completely unacceptable’ as thousands of businesses were urged to switch fuels, and households struggled to keep warm in sub-zero temperatures. But there was no sign of an end to the standoff between Russia’s energy monopoly Gazprom and Ukraine.
Gazprom stopped pumping gas to Ukraine for domestic consumption on 1 January after the two countries failed to agree on a fixed price for 2009. The pipelines that cross Ukraine also carry gas to Europe but that continued to flow, until Moscow accused Ukraine of siphoning off Europe’s fuel.
Russia on Wednesday stopped gas supplies through Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Turkey, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia and Macedonia. The government of Slovakia declared a national emergency; Austria and Italy reported falls of 90%; France said Russian supplies had tailed off 70%, and Germany also reported a decline although did not quantify it.
The Czech Republic, which took over the EU presidency this month, had sharp words for Moscow. “Drastically curbing deliveries this way is no solution to disputes,” said Alexandr Vondra, Czech Deputy PM. “It is impossible to hold other countries hostage.”
Douglas Erskine, a British expert, said many of Bulgaria’s seven million residents would struggle. “Houses are poorly insulated, the electricity supply is unpredictable, and the elderly will struggle to get coal and wood.”
An EU delegation headed to Kiev for talks on Wednesday. Separate discussions are planned with Gazprom representatives today in Berlin. The 27-nation EU gets about a quarter of its gas from Russia, of which 80% is pumped through Ukraine.
Russia’s economy has been shaken by the credit crunch. Gazprom has debts of about $50bn and foreign reserves have dropped by more than a third, so PM Putin may
be concerned about getting as much cash as possible for his gas.
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