Gas starved EU states aim to end energy row

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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Russia and Ukraine faced another day of sparring over gas supplies yesterday and two European Union states, cut off for a freezing week by the row, launched missions to plead for Russian gas flow to be restored.

But Ukraine's natural gas company said for a second straight day it would not send Russian gas along to Europe, citing what it claimed were onerous conditions set by Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom. With no end to the politically charged dispute in sight - despite an agreement that sent teams of EU monitors out to pumping stations to keep tabs on the gas flows - the EU was fed up.

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso called the crisis "unacceptable and incredible" and warned the EU executive would advise the bloc's firms to sue Russian and Ukrainian energy companies unless gas supplies were restored quickly, according to an account by Reuters news agency.

Russia began pumping gas meant for Europe via Ukraine on Tuesday, but the EU said little or no gas was flowing yet to other countries downstream suffering energy shortages. Russia accused Ukraine of deliberately cutting gas to Europe, Kiev said Russia had so far provided so little gas there was not enough pressure in the pipelines to pump it on.

"Such small volumes ... do not allow for further transportation of gas as there is insufficient pressure," Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko told a cabinet meeting. Tymoshenko also said she was ready to meet her Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and that negotiations on Europe's gas crisis needed to move to the "level of governments." She said at a press conference that her office had requested a telephone conversation with Putin and that after the conversation "we will see how to organize our meeting."

The crisis has hit 18 countries in the depths of winter, shutting down many factories and leaving householders shivering.

Alternative routes
"If the agreement sponsored by the EU is not honored, the Commission will advise EU companies to take this matter to the courts," Barroso told the European Parliament. "The current situation is in short most unacceptable and incredible," he said. "If the agreement is not honored, it means that Russia and Ukraine can no longer be regarded as reliable."

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, urged the 27-nation bloc to set up a 120-day "mandatory" strategic reserve of oil and natural gas and seek alternative energy supply routes. He called the situation a "crisis of trust" with Ukraine and Russia, according to an account by The Associated Press.

Topolanek proposed that the bloc make its "highest priority" plans to support the construction of the Nabucco natural gas pipeline.

Two of the worst-hit EU states, Bulgaria and Slovakia, sent their prime ministers to Moscow and Kiev in a fresh effort to get gas supplies restored.

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said his country had 11 days of gas reserves left. "After 12 days, we will be obliged to resort to measures never seen in our history. May I simply ask how long this will go on?" he asked Ukraine's Tymoshenko.

State of emergency
Slovakia, which gets almost all its gas from Russia, declared a state of emergency on Jan. 6, under which gas deliveries to large clients were reduced. About 1,000 companies were forced to shut or cut production.

Tymoshenko said her country could do little to help. "Ukraine does not have sufficient gas. We do not have our own supplies," she told Fico.

Fico was expected to meet Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin alongside Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev and Moldovan Prime Minister Zinaida Greceanii as Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review went to press yesterday.

Ukraine refused yesterday to transit Russian natural gas to several countries in Europe, Russian gas giant Gazprom said, according to an account by Agence France-Presse. Ukraine's state gas company Naftogaz "refused to accept Russian gas" at one of the main entry points to the Ukrainian transit system, the company said in a statement. Naftogaz, in a note sent to Gazprom, said Ukraine had proposed directing gas to the Pisarevka and Valuiki compressor stations, rather than the Sudzha station proposed by Gazprom. Russia is making transit of gas through Ukraine impossible by its choice of pipeline routes, Ukrainian state energy company Naftogaz said in response to Russian complaints.

The gas row reflects poor political relations between Russia and Ukraine. Moscow is vehemently opposed to moves by Ukraine's leadership to join the U.S.-led NATO alliance.