Ukraine’s gas company Naftogaz said yesterday that Russia’s Gazprom cut natural gas supplies to Europe by about two-thirds, raising the stakes in a spiraling dispute between the two neighbors that bodes ill for European consumers.
Naftogaz spokesman Valentyn Zemlyansky said Gazprom sent only 92 million cubic meters of gas for European consumers yesterday, down from 221 on Monday or about 300 during previous days.
“That is all they are sending, in several hours Europe will feel it,” Zemlyansky said.
Gazprom officials could not be immediately reached for comment and the drop in supplies could not be immediately confirmed. Gazprom said late on Monday that it will cut the amount of gas it ships to Europe through Ukraine by 65.3 million cubic meters. Gazprom said it was cutting gas supplies by the amount it accuses Ukraine of having stolen when it ran through its pipelines.
Kiev denies the accusations saying Russia is to blame for the disruption because it is refusing to ship extra gas used to make the delivery.
The statement is bad news for European consumers.
Some European countries are already experiencing supply problems after Russia cut off supplies to its neighbor on Jan. 1 over pricing disagreements and outstanding debt. Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria say that supplies from pipelines through Ukraine remained down, in Romania’s case by 30 percent.
The reductions come as a EU commission was to meet with senior Ukrainian officials yesterday to discuss the crisis.
Russia’s reductions appear aimed at putting pressure on Ukraine, which has turned down several offers on prices and transit fees by Gazprom. Ukraine has enough gas reserves to last for weeks without Russian gas.
During a similar dispute between Ukraine and Russia in 2006, several West European countries saw their gas supplies drop by 30 percent or more. This time Gazprom’s customers were better prepared, having built up substantial reserves.
While the previous gas cutoff was seen as punishment for Ukraine’s pro-Western policies, this time Gazprom is insisting it is a commercial dispute. Both countries are seeking to prove they are a reliable energy partner for the EU.
“As of 3:30am supplies ... to Bulgaria as well as the transit to Turkey, Greece and Macedonia have been suspended,” Bulgaria’s Economy Ministry said in a statement. “We are in a crisis situation.”
There was no immediate confirmation from Turkey, Greece or Macedonia of a halt in supplies. Turkey has an alternative route for importing Russian gas, under the Black Sea.
South-east Europe and the Balkans receive their Russian gas from a pipeline which passes from Ukraine via Bulgaria, so officials in Sofia are likely to be the first to see signs of a cut-off.
In Kiev, Ukrainian state energy Naftogaz firm said Russia had cut gas supply via Ukraine to Europe to about a third of its normal flow.
“This means that in a few hours Europe will face a problem with gas supplies,” said a Naftogaz spokesman.
Gazprom said it had no choice but to reduce supplies to Europe via Ukraine because Kiev was siphoning off gas intended for transit. It said it would boost supplies through other routes to compensate.
A delegation from the EU was to meet Ukrainian officials in Kiev yesterday, and fact-finding talks were also planned for the same day between EU officials and Gazprom, though the venue had not yet been confirmed.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Monday he had appealed to Putin and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko not to let their dispute affect Europe’s gas supplies.
“I hope that the matter will be resolved, as the reality is that if it is not then it may create problems for European countries who are not responsible for the situation,” he said.
Russia has clashed repeatedly with Ukraine’s pro-Western leaders over their ambition to join the NATO alliance. Gazprom denies any political motive in the row and says it is purely about Kiev’s refusal to pay a fair price for its gas.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to