Russia's state gas company Gazprom yesterday boosted natural gas exports to Europe to redress sudden shortfalls after it cut supplies to Ukraine, and offered some form of compensation for disruptions.
Although Ukraine continued to siphon off gas from the European exports, Gazprom would make good losses, a spokesman said in Moscow.
But the company was not prepared to cover the "theft" of gas indefinitely, he added.
A special meeting of the EU's natural gas coordination group is to take place in Brussels today to discuss supplies amid an increasingly bitter war of words between Russia and Ukraine.
Despite the rhetoric, the two sides were to hold talks yesterday on resolving the gas cutoff, a spokesman for Gazprom said.
Spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said that Ukrainian officials were on their way to Moscow for the talks at Gazprom's headquarters. He did not specify who would be taking part, but said the talks would be "at a sufficiently high level."
Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov called on the EU yesterday to put pressure on Ukraine to ensure that full supplies of Russian gas transit to European countries.
"We ask that influence be exerted on the Ukrainian side to bring it back to lawfulness and guarantee it completely fulfil international commitments of the unimpeded transit of natural gas through Ukrainian territory to European Union countries," he wrote in a letter quoted by Russian news agencies.
He said Russia was ready "to fulfil strictly all existing agreements and contracts with our EU partners in the interests of strengthening the energy security of the continent."
The letter was sent to Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, who took over as EU president on Sunday, state-owned RIA-Novosti and ITAR-TASS news agencies said.
Gazprom cut deliveries to Ukraine on Sunday in a dispute over price. Since it sends about 80 percent of its European export volume through Ukraine, supplies were also disrupted to a number of other countries.
Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Serbia-Montenegro, Romania, Italy and France all reported decreases of up to 30 percent in the amount of Russian gas received since Jan. 1.
The company said it would add 3.96 million cubic meters an hour of gas shipments to Europe to compensate for the shortages.
Austria's oil and gas group OMV director Wolfgang Ruttersdorfer confirmed that the vital energy supply was flowing again, saying late on Monday that Russia had started delivering a "full supply" of gas to countries in Europe.
Poland's PGNiG fuels distribution company said yesterday that pressure in Poland's natural gas pipelines had also returned to normal levels. Overall Poland saw a relatively small 8 percent decline in Russian deliveries from Ukraine during the crisis.
Gazprom will also increase supplies to Europe through the Yamal-Europe pipeline that crosses Belarus and through the Blue Stream pipeline to Turkey, spokesman Kupriyanov said.
The showdown between Moscow and Kiev has sent a shiver across the EU, which gets 25 percent of its gas supplies from Russia.
also see story:
Oil rises on worry over growing Ukraine gas dispute
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
MEET AND GREET: The White House, which called the interaction ‘just a handshake,’ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Biden planned to visit Taiwan’s envoy to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), on Friday invited US President Joe Biden to visit Taiwan. During the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue, Lin, who represented President William Lai (賴清德) at the summit, spoke with Biden and expressed gratitude to the outgoing US president for his contribution to improving bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington over the past four years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Lin and Biden exchanged views during the conversation, with Lin extending an invitation to Biden to visit Taiwan, it said. Biden is to step down in January next year, when US president-elect Donald Trump is
RSS