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France, Italy, Germany, Hungary and Poland were among those reporting falling volumes.
Hungary says normal gas supplies have now been restored
Russia says it will pump more gas to Europe after various countries said their supplies had fallen by up to 40% after Moscow cut Ukraine’s provision.
Russia said it was sending an extra 95 million cubic metres a day, to make up for gas “stolen” by Ukraine.
Ukraine denies it has siphoned off $25m (£15m) worth of gas from a pipeline crossing its territory after Russia cut off its supply in a price dispute.
Russian gas monopoly Gazprom raised the price of 1,000 cubic metres of gas from $50 to $230 and Ukraine refused to pay.
Read on »»
«« click on pic to enlarge
Graph shows distribution of gas pipelines in Ukraine. Russian gas giant Gazprom has cut gas supplies to the Ukraine. The European Union convened a special meeting to discuss the row. AFP/Graphic
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
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● Gazprom Cuts Gas Supplies to Ukraine Hungary-Poland Gas Disrupted Pipeline & Ecology
● Russian Gas Cuts – Why There Is No Need to Worry
◊ by Jérôme a Paris @EuroTrib
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No, not in Moscow or in Kiev, these states are known for their chilled comments and ditto living circumstances. The temperature is rising on the European Tribune debate of the issue with some excellent contribution all around!
Russian gas cuts – why there is no need to worry
Jerome,
I’ve been lurking at DailyKos for the past 1.5 years and never posted a comment there. I’ve been lurking here at Eurotrib since its inception as well. This diary, however, has finally forced me to post a response …
According to your point of view, Putin is trying to punish Ukraine for leaning closer to the West. Specifically, you seem to be saying that he is retaliating in response to the Orange “revolution” – which was an American-sponsored coup, by the way, which has done nothing but harm the Ukrainian economy and people. We can put this aside, however, because it has nothing to do with the current “crisis”.
The real reason for Putin demanding that Ukraine pay market price for Russia’s natural gas is that the Russian people are sick and tired of subsidizing countries that continually bad-mouth her in public, yet are more than happy to buy her gas for $50/ 1000 cm and resell it to Hungary, Romania, and Moldavia for $250. Why should Russia subsidize Ukrainian industries and companies, like steel maker Kryvorizhstal, that are in direct competition with Russian industry?
[Minor edits and links added – Oui]
BBC News June 14, 2004 -- A company owned by the son-in-law of Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma has won a tender to buy Kryvorizhstal, the country's biggest steel plant. Viktor Pinchuk, who has interests in steel, energy and media, won the bid in partnership with Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine's richest man. Their 4.3bn-hryvnia (£430m; $780m) bid won despite competition from Russian, US and European steel firms. The tender has aroused vigorous protest in Ukraine and abroad.● Analysis of Orange Revolt
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
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Gazprom to Cover European Exports ‘Stolen by Ukraine’
Gazprom Deputy Chief Executive Alexander Medvedev said at the press conference: “… gas supplies to Europe will be restored in full, in accordance to their contract. However, the situation in which Ukraine continues to steal gas and we continue to supply European customers can’t continue indefinitely.”
Turkmen Gas
Gazprom will buy 30 billion m³ of Turkmen gas this year, including 15 billion m³ in the first quarter, which means there is no room for Ukrainian gas in Turkmenistan’s pipelines, the company said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov confirmed his country will sell Ukraine 40 billion m³ this year, according to a statement on Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko’s Web site, following a telephone conversation between the leaders.
● BBC Video Report – Deputy Chairman of Gazprom
● WTO official Pascal Lami —
Russia and Ukraine should pay market prices
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
.
European press todayTomorrow, a meeting has been set for the EU Energy Commission with all EU officials. Representatives from Russia, Ukraine and Gazprom will also attend the meeting.
European Commission Press Info
The European Union is pursuing a carefully neutral line in the spat over gas prices between Russia and Ukraine, refusing to blame either party. An emergency meeting of energy officials is set for 4 January, but the EU insists there is no supply crisis.
Brussels (RFE/RL) Jan. 3 — The Russian-Ukrainian crisis has brought several responses from the European Union.
The European Commission today urged Russia and Ukraine to return to the negotatiating table in their dispute over gas prices. This came just hours before Russian and Ukrainian gas officials were reportedly due to meet later in the day to discuss their pricing dispute, which led Moscow to cut gas supplies to Ukraine.
Also in response to the crisis, the European Commission has called an emergency meeting of EU energy experts and industry representatives in Brussels on 4 January to assess the impact of the spat.
Russia’s attempt on 1 January to cut gas deliveries to Ukraine led to considerable drops in gas supplies across Europe that depend on the same pipelines. Although it accuses Ukraine of siphoning off gas, Russia has now restored gas levels in Ukrainian pipelines to nearly precrisis levels.
European Commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger said further talks between Moscow and Kyiv are the best way of overcoming the crisis. “At this point in time the commission urges the parties to the dispute to get back to the table of negotiations,” he said. “The best possible solution would of course be for the parties to the dispute to solve the conflict between themselves. If that proved not to be possible, nothing is ruled out, nothing is ruled in [in terms of EU reaction].”
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
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MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia and Ukraine reached a face-saving deal on Wednesday in a bitter gas dispute which hit supplies to Europe for two days and cast doubt on Moscow’s reliability as a secure supply source.
“We have reached a final agreement,” Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller told a news conference in Moscow after crisis talks with Ukrainian officials.
“This agreement will ensure stable supplies to Europe.”
Details were sketchy, but Miller said the five-year deal was effective from January 1 and based on a price of $230 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas. That is a huge rise from the $50 Ukraine had been paying — a holdover from subsidized Soviet-era prices.
But the head of Ukraine’s Naftogaz state energy firm, Oleksiy Ivchenko, told the same news conference that — after mixing in supplies from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan — Kiev would actually pay $95 per 1,000 cubic meters at its border.
Analysis – read on …
Gazprom Cuts Gas Supplies to Ukraine ¶Hungary-Poland Gas Disrupted ¶ Pipeline & Ecology
Fri Dec 30th, 2005 at 08:00:14 AM PST
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY ▼
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Bush neocon policy failed everywhere, from North Korea to Iran and the Arab nations in the Middle East. Bush – Powell – Rice lost all the Central Asian states of the former Soviet Union and got kicked out of Uzbekistan. China and Russia have tightened their grip on these satellite nations bordering strategic oil and gas resources of the Caspian Sea,
The twist with the Ukraine and Georgia were the latests where the Kremlin – Putin – and Gazprom got their way and secured the trasport pipelines through the whole region. Putin mirrored the openings Bush took to grap executive power in the States, to his own possibilities with domestic politics of the Doema, Russian oil billionaires and neighboring totalitarian states. Putin’s implementation was much better than Bush, even China wasted no time to sign multi-billion LNG import contracts with Iran and invested heavily in Central Africa Chad and Sudan, South America in Argentina and Venezuela.
Bush and neocon cabal got their asses kicked everywhere and are much worse off than at the start five years ago. No wonder Bush spoke of his oil addiction, because he failed miserably to conquer any foreign oil fields. His only success was the invasion and occupation of Haiti, except there is no oil to be gained. VP Cheney probably wanted to vault from Haiti into Chavez territory of Venezuela, but the overthrow failed!
● Iran – Pakistan – India Pipeline
≈ Cross-posted from my diary — Democracy Failures In Middle East Under Bush ≈
“But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.”
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