Europe wary as Russia-Ukraine gas row intensifies[de] 

The standoff between the two former Soviet allies escalated on Tuesday, prompting a wave of statements by both Gazprom and the European Commission insisting that gas supplies to Europe remained uninterrupted.

The latest move means deliveries to Ukraine have been cut by at least half since the beginning of the week after Gazprom had already cut shipments by 25% on Monday (3 March). About a quarter of all gas consumed in the EU originates from Russia and 80% of it is shipped via pipelines crossing Ukraine.

The dispute is reminiscent of a January 2006 row that saw deliveries to Western Europe briefly interrupted, highlighting the EU's dependency on Russian gas imports and prompting it to seek new supply routes (EurActiv 18/01/06).

In a statement, EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs called for "a determined effort to resolve the current disagreement," saying that "to date, no member state has reported any reduction in supplies". Piebalgs added that he had convened a meeting of the EU Gas Coordination Group in order to "ensure a fully coordinated EU response to the situation".

"The EU places enormous importance on this, and looks to the parties to make every effort to find a rapid and durable solution to their disagreement. In addition, we look to both parties to ensure that gas supplies to the EU remain unaffected," he said.

A spokesman for Naftogaz, the natural gas company which controls pipelines in Ukraine, warned on Tuesday that the company may begin reducing supplies to Europe if Gazprom carries out its threat to impose a second cut. "We will do that if our energy security is threatened. At the moment it is not," Valentyn Zemlyansky told The Associated Press in Kyiv.

In a statement, Gazprom said it "would fulfil all contracts, as it has done for decades" but that, as a commercial company, it needs "clients to pay for the services provided".

"Natural gas deliveries to EU countries will continue at full volume," said Gazprom spokesperson Sergei Kypriyanov, adding that "the cuts in gas supplies to Ukraine were caused exclusively by the non-payment of debts for additional Russian gas".

A deal between Gazprom and Naftogaz to displace trade intermediaries between the two state monopolies was announced in February but the details were not immediately communicated to trade partners in Europe (EurActiv 14/02/08).