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| AFP January 2, 2006
Europe has started to feel the pinch after Russia cut gas supplies to Ukraine in a politically-charged price dispute, while Moscow accused Kiev of stealing some of the supplies meant to cover 25 percent of the European market. Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland reported drops in supplies by as much as 30 percent on Monday, a day after Moscow turned off the taps to Ukraine because of Kiev's refusal to pay a four-fold increase for Russian gas imports. "The volume of gas stolen by Ukraine from the pipeline to Europe on January 1 was close to 100 million cubic metres, valued at 25 million dollars at the market price," Alexander Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russian energy giant Gazprom, said at a news conference in Moscow shown on Russian television. As Ukraine's 48 million people braced for shortages, Kiev accused Moscow of seeking to destabilise the country's economy, which depends on Russia for around a third of its natural gas import needs. Ukrainian Energy Minister Ivan Plachkov denied that any Russian gas destined for western countries was being siphoned off, but warned Kiev would be forced to do so if temperatures plunged below freezing. "Today no gas is being withheld" but "if the temperatures fall below zero, minus three or minus five, we will consume the Russian gas that we receive," Plachkov was quoted as saying by Interfax-Ukraine news agency as temperatures in the Ukrainian capital hovered around minus one degree celsius. Ukrainian officials said earlier that Kiev had the right to siphon 15 percent of Russian gas transiting through Ukraine bound for European markets as payment for gas transit through Ukraine. Kiev said its gas needs were currently being met by domestic reserves and supplies from Turkmenistan under a separate agreement, but Gazprom said it was holding back all exports from the Central Asian state, which have to travel through Russian pipelines. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko told reporters on Sunday he would seek fresh talks with Moscow to resolve the energy crisis after negotiations appeared to break down on Saturday and a deadline for Kiev to agree to Russian demands passed. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, has already expressed its "concern" at the worsening crisis and has called a special meeting on Wednesday to review supplies. Reflecting mounting concern in Western capitals, the United States warned that the dispute had created "insecurity" in Europe's energy sector and criticised Moscow for its "sudden" move to cut supplies to Ukraine. "Such an abrupt step creates insecurity in the energy sector in the region and raises serious questions about the use of energy to exert political pressure," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement. "As we have told both Russia and Ukraine, we support a move toward market pricing for energy but believe that such a change should be introduced over time rather than suddenly and unilaterally." Hungary, which depends completely on Russian gas imports, noted a 40 percent drop in gas pressure at its border with Ukraine on Monday and other European countries reported supply shortages. Around a fifth of European gas imports come from Russia via Ukraine along a single trunk pipeline that splits off after entering Ukraine into smaller branches to supply the Ukrainian network and western Europe. Ukraine's emergency situations ministry set up a special crisis centre on Sunday and officials warned stations that provide central heating for residential homes and industrial enterprises in southern and eastern parts of the country could face gas supply reductions. Kiev has so far been paying 50 dollars per 1,000 cubic metres (35,316 cubic feet) of natural gas from Russia. Gazprom, which controls a third of the world's natural gas reserves, wants 230 dollars (195 euros) for the gas, arguing that Soviet-era tariffs no longer apply and the price needs to be aligned with market rates. Kiev has said it can pay more but only over a transitional period. Ukraine imports some 25 billion cubic metres per year from Russia, and many ordinary Ukrainians have expressed alarm, despite official assurances that the country has enough reserves to last the winter. |
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