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Russia's Gazprom blames Ukraine for gas supply drop
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-25 08:59
Russia's state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom on Tuesday accused Ukraine of
siphoning an increasing volume of gas from a key transit pipeline at the expense
of other European nations further west.
Gazprom said Monday that Ukraine was taking more gas than agreed from the
pipeline that transits its territory, and the company's spokesman, Sergei
Kupriyanov, claimed Ukraine's siphoning had increased Tuesday.
"Ukraine has increased the offtake of the Russian gas during the last 24
hours," Kupriyanov said in remarks broadcast by Channel One television. "The
additional gas volumes we supplied for the European consumers haven't reached
Europe."
Earlier on Tuesday, Italy's oil and gas company Eni SpA said it expected
natural gas supplies from Russia to be 8.1 percent below requested volumes on
Tuesday.
The Italian government called on the public Tuesday to reduce heating use by
one hour a day and lower thermostats by about 2 degrees to help conserve energy.
Ukrainian Fuel and Energy Minister Ivan Plachkov acknowledged Tuesday that
Ukraine was taking more Russian gas than earlier agreed because of the cold
spell.
"The situation is extremely difficult," Plachkov said during a phone
conference with regional administration heads, according to the Interfax news
agency. "Ukraine is indeed consuming more gas now than stipulated by preliminary
agreements with our Russian partners."
Plachkov urged local authorities to introduce energy-saving measures. Earlier
Tuesday, his ministry informed regional administrations that the population
would have to reduce demand by about 15 percent, and industry would also have to
scale back.
Ukraine's Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov acknowledged that Ukraine's gas
consumption had surged by 42 percent over 24 hours but claimed Gazprom had
sanctioned the increase.
Gazprom caused consternation earlier this month when its gas deliveries to
Europe fell sharply because of a price dispute with Ukraine, whose pipeline
network transits gas supplies to the rest of Europe.
About one-quarter of Europe's gas comes from Russia, and both the earlier
cutoff and the current fall in deliveries have led to calls for Europe to
diversify its energy supplies away from Russian gas.
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