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Russian Fuel Cuts Felt Across Europe
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Weafer said Ukraine will probably also need financial assistance since it was unable to keep up with gas payments even at last year's lower price.
Gazprom said Ukraine shut down three export pipelines without warning Tuesday, forcing Russia to cut deliveries to one-seventh their normal levels. Naftogaz, Ukraine's state energy firm, denied the accusation, saying it was Russia that halted deliveries through the pipelines.
"We did not turn anything off. There is simply no gas there," said Naftogaz spokesman Valentyn Zemlyansky.
The reductions came a day after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of stealing fuel meant for other countries and ordered Gazprom to cut deliveries using Ukrainian pipelines in retaliation. Gazprom said it would reduce shipments daily by the amount it believed Ukraine was siphoning off and try to compensate by sending more fuel to Europe by other routes.
Gazprom said it sent 64.7 million of the 130 million cubic meters of gas requested by European customers Tuesday and had expected Ukraine to make up the difference, an amount equal to what it says Ukraine has stolen. The company said Europe received only 40 million cubic meters.
Appearing on television with Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller for the second consecutive night, Putin argued that Ukraine was stealing gas "not from Russia, but from Western consumers, because they bought and paid for these goods."
Miller said that theft was "increasing hour by hour" and had reached 15 percent of all Russian fuel shipments through Ukraine. If Ukraine refused to deliver the gas to Europe, he added, Gazprom would "see no reason for pumping gas to the border."
Ukraine has denied any theft, saying it has enough gas in storage for its own needs through April. But it says it is using about 25 million cubic meters every day to fuel the pumping stations on its pipelines and guarantee smooth delivery of gas to the rest of Europe.
Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko said the country was using its own gas to maintain pressure in the pipeline and keep Europe supplied. But he warned that Russia might suspend all gas shipments.
