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Tuesday, 02 December, 2008, 00:20 GMT | more >>

Tymoshenko slams Russia gas claims



By Upstream staff 

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has rubbished Russian accusations over huge missing gas volume, blaming Moscow-imposed middlemen in a sign of new frictions over gas supply terms with Russia.

Yesterday, Russian gas monopoly Gazprom told Tymoshenko at talks in Moscow it believed that 4 billion cubic metres had gone missing and were now considered part of Ukraine's gas debt.

Gazprom earlier this month had threatened to reduce supplies to Ukraine over payment arrears of $1.5 billion.

But Tymoshenko told her Cabinet today it was two intermediaries - RosUkrEnergo, which supplies gas to Ukraine, and UkrGasEnergo, which distributes the gas on the Ukrainian domestic market - which were responsible for the missing gas, a Reuters report said.

"It turns out that they had managed in previous years to use gas coming this year from Central Asia. They bought gas in advance and what did they do with it? Exported it or sent it to some other unknown place," the news agency quoted her as telling ministers.

Rows over gas between Ukraine and Russia, which supplies a quarter of Europe's gas needs largely via Ukraine, have aroused widespread concern since one such dispute disrupted exports to European Union countries in January 2006.

"Today, they have handed us an imbalance of 4 billion cubic metres, now considered debt for Naftohaz," she said, referring to the financially troubled national oil and gas company. "They ran up huge debts and not just in terms of money."

Tymoshenko's talks yesterday failed to clarify details of a gas agreement struck earlier this month by the two countries' presidents, Reuters said.

Tymoshenko held more than four hours of talks at Gazprom's headquarters after meeting Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov. Both she and Zubkov said they would stick to the agreements reached by the presidents, despite fears Ukraine's premier could challenge the deal.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin clinched a last-minute deal to settle payment of Ukrainian arrears for gas supplies and, over time, to eliminate both RosUkrEnergo and UkrGasEnergo.

But Gazprom later said RosUkrEnergo, which is half controlled by Gazprom and half by two Ukrainian businessmen, may survive in some form.


Friday, 22 February, 2008, 10:41 GMT  | last updated: Friday, 22 February, 2008, 10:41 GMT

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