Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Friday it would cut its supplies to ex-Soviet neighbor Ukraine by 25 percent from tomorrow in the latest twist to a long-running dispute over debt payments.
The decision was taken after two days of talks between the two countries ended in failure, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said in a statement.
"Considering that the situation has reached a dead end, to guarantee its own economic interests, Gazprom will reduce its gas supplies to Ukrainian consumers by 25 percent on March 3 at 10am [7am GMT]," Kupriyanov said.
The European Commission and Gazprom's European partners, which receive a large part of their supplies though Ukraine's pipelines from Russia, have been informed of the situation, he added.
Kupriyanov later told the Interfax news agency that Gazprom was ready to continue talks with Naftogaz Ukraine, but was unsure if the Ukrainian side would agree to negotiate.
The dispute is over 1.9 billion cubic meters of gas deliveries worth about US$600 million that Ukraine has not paid, Kupriyanov said.
Although Ukraine claims to have settled its debts for last year, disagreements remain over a debt Moscow claims Ukraine accumulated in recent months when Russia used its own gas to make up for a shortfall in less expensive Central Asian gas.
Russian natural gas accounts for around a quarter of Ukraine's gas imports, with the rest coming from former Soviet republics in Central Asia via pipelines that go through Russia.
In Friday's statement, Kupriyanov complained that the "informal use of gas is continuing this year." Gazprom earlier complained that no documents had been signed for the gas provided to replace the Central Asian shortfall.
Kupriyanov also complained that Ukraine had failed to sign new deal to coordinate the two countries' gas relations.
Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko brokered an accord which had appeared to end the payment dispute. Under the deal, Moscow agreed to a Ukrainian demand to replace two controversial intermediary gas trading companies with a more transparent firm.
Changes to the murky system of intermediaries by which Ukraine pays for gas imported from Russia and Central Asia had been a key demand by Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
The dispute echoes a price row that led to a brief cut-off of Russian gas to Ukraine in 2006, which led to supply shortages in the EU.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS