A TOP Ukrainian official yesterday warned that European customers could see serious natural gas disruptions in about two weeks if the energy dispute between Russia and Ukraine is not resolved.
As the two countries traded accusations in their bitter dispute over energy prices, four European nations – Romania, Hungary, Poland and Bulgaria – all reported some supply drops in natural gas yesterday.
Russian gas monopoly Gazprom cut off gas
shipments to Ukraine on Thursday. Then Gazprom and Ukraine both embarked on charm offensives to assure western European nations they were reliable partners and the fault lay with their rival.
The Russian delegation hoped to convince investors in Prague, Paris, Berlin and London that Kiev was to blame for any gas shortages, saying Ukraine is siphoning off natural gas from Russian shipments, as well as refusing to pay $600m (£413m) in fines or negotiate a new price contract for 2009.
Russia supplies Ukraine with natural gas and also sends 80% of its gas supplies to Europe through pipelines in the country. The stakes in the dispute are high as Europe relies on Russia for a quarter of its gas needs.
Meanwhile, Bohdan Sokolovsky, an aide to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, warned serious disruptions could hit Russia's European customers if it continues to refuse to ship gas allocated for Ukraine to Ukraine.
He said that even though Ukraine continued to pump Russian gas destined for Europe, European countries could see major shortfalls in 10 to 15 days.
Without Ukraine's share of gas in the Russian shipment, the overall gas levels in the pipeline transit system begin to fall. Sokolovsky said if that continues, an automatic shutdown would be triggered as the system requires a minimum amount of gas to maintain pipeline pressure.
"It is obvious that this is political pressure on Ukraine," Sokolovsky said of Russia's gas cut-off. "This is pure politics."
Speaking in Prague yesterday, Gazprom deputy chairman Alexander Medvedev said Ukraine's position was "absolutely unacceptable. We're not negotiating. There's nobody from Naftogaz to negotiate" with, he said, referring to Ukraine's state gas company.
Despite the gas cut-off to Ukraine, Gazprom says it has continued pumping the gas meant for Europe. Medvedev said Gazprom has been using alternative routes that don't cross Ukraine – pipelines in Belarus and Turkey – but those don't have the capacity to make up the shortfall. As a result, some European countries were seeing a reduction in supplies.
Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller later suggested that European consumers should sue Ukraine for allegedly stealing their gas. Ukraine, meanwhile, disputes the fines and contends that Gazprom is unfairly refusing to accept a rise in transit fees while asking for higher gas prices for 2009. Miller said in a statement yesterday that the company would file a lawsuit with the Court of Arbitration in Stockholm against Naftogaz over the transit issue.
The two nations are also at odds over the price Ukraine will pay for natural gas in 2009. Gazprom has proposed a price jump from $179.50 to $418 per thousand cubic metres.
A Naftogaz spokesman said yesterday the company was ready to negotiate, but called Gazprom's behaviour "energy blackmail".
The European Union has urged the two former Soviet republics to find an "urgent solution" to the dispute and announced it will host meeting on Friday with Russian and Ukrainian experts to discuss natural gas shipments to the 27-nation bloc. But the EU warned it would not play mediator.
The full article contains 581 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
