Russia alarmed by Ukraine's 'empty' gas stocks[fr][de] 

In a statement released on Tuesday, Gazprom officials called the situation "very, very serious" and warned that "the reliability of gas supply from Russia and Europe's energy security are at stake". 

Russia insists that Ukraine should prepay some five billion US dollars to replenish its underground gas reserves with 20 billion cubic metres of gas. However, Ukraine is in a difficult financial situation, and Gazprom says it may have to cut supplies unless "EU bodies assume some responsibility". 

Following a working meeting in Moscow with Oleg Dubina, CEO of Naftogaz Ukrainy, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said the information presented by his counterpart had revealed "the dire financial state of the Ukrainian company". 

Reacting from Tripoli, in Lybia, Yuriy Prodan, Ukraine's energy minister, said that his country would continue to pay for gas supplies. 

Ukraine usually stores Russian gas during the summer period when consumption is lower in order to guarantee stable supplies to the West throughout the winter. 

But Russia insists that the reserves need to be refilled right away, as they were almost completely emptied during the gas crisis. According to international experts, restocking can also take place during the autumn. 

Gazprom pays Ukraine in advance for the transit of its natural gas to Europe, and claims it has already prepaid for 2009 in full. As Ukraine needs to pay Russia for its own gas consumption, the same money appears to be going back to Moscow, but Gazprom says the amount is not sufficient to cover Ukraine's gas bill. 

During her last visit to Moscow on 22 May, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko suggested that Russia should pre-pay its transit fees in advance for the coming five years. Vladimir Putin, Russia's prime minsiter, described the idea as "risky" due to the early presidential elections in Ukraine (EurActiv 02/04/09) and the expected re-organisation of the country's gas sector. 

Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine's president and political rival to Timoshenko, called the idea "unacceptable" and "illegal". 

According to the Russian press, Moscow is suggesting that the EU co-credits Ukraine for the gas storage. However, European Commission spokesperson Ferran Tarradellas was categorical that the EU had not received any such proposal, and repeated that the EU executive expected contractors' obligations on gas supplies to be respected.