Russia slams Ukraine in gas row, Kiev warns EU of problems
Agence France-Presse | 01/03/2009 10:06 PM
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PRAGUE - Russia stepped up its war of words with Ukraine over gas supplies Saturday, accusing it of theft, while Kiev warned that deliveries to the European Union could be seriously hit within 10 days.
Several EU countries said they were already suffering shortfalls in deliveries of Russian gas, as the number two official of producer Gazprom arrived in Prague for talks with the EU on Moscow's gas dispute with Kiev.
Alexander Medvedev told reporters in the Czech Republic, current holder of the EU presidency, that Ukraine was stealing 35 million cubic metres of Russian gas a day intended for Europe and would have to pay for it.
He was in Prague the day after a Ukrainian delegation held talks there and in Bratislava before travelling on to Berlin for meetings with German officials.
In Kiev, President Viktor Yushchenko's representative on energy security, Bogdan Sokolovsky, warned, "If the Russian side does not provide more gas (to EU member states) than at the moment, then in around 10 days there could be very serious technical problems."
"The transit of gas may be disrupted at some point," Sokolovsky told reporters at a briefing two days after Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine proper when their contract expired. "It will not be our fault."
The Czech Republic, as holder of the EU presidency, called earlier for a resumption of disrupted supplies and representatives from the bloc were due to discuss the issue in Brussels on Monday.
Medvedev alleged that "If we add the gas from the export pipeline and underground storage to the gas that was taken by (Ukrainian gas giant) Naftogaz without any contract it already exceeds 35 million cubic metres a day."
"All the gas which was illegally taken will have to be paid for," on top of the 600 million dollars Russia alleges is outstanding, he said.
Naftogaz has denied the charge, claiming the Russians are not delivering the due quantities to European clients.
"I will meet Czech representative in charge of the EU to give a picture of what is going on", Medvedev added, accusing Ukraine of "trying to manipulate public opinion."
"All our efforts to find a settlement were not met: in the absence of a contract we are not in a position legally to supply gas to Ukraine; from January 1 we are not supplying gas to Ukrainian consumers.
"The situation is dictated by Russian legislation: in the absence of a contract it is not possible to deliver any products, whether it is oil, gas or machinery, this rule is applied to any country around the world," he said.
"We believe in these circumstances that the states which start to suffer should take all the necessary measures to ask Ukraine to comply with its international obligations.
"We are fully committed that all gas should be delivered to our European customers," he said.
From Prague Medvedev was to fly to Berlin where he was to give a news conference, travelling to Paris Monday for a meeting with Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, before going on to London, Vienna, Milan or Rome and "perhaps Brussels".
Meanwhile some eastern European countries reported a drop in supplies from Russia.
Deliveries to Romania have fallen by 30 percent since the start of the dispute, a senior official said Saturday, adding stocks were adequate to meet demand.
Normally Romania imports about 10 million cubic metres a day but on Friday supplies amounted to only seven million cubic metres, according to Ioan Rus, director of the gas pipeline operator Transgaz.
Bulgaria reported a drop of 10 to 15 percent in deliveries. Poland said that pressure had been lower but rising and that the normal amount had been arriving, while Hungary said there had been no problems.
