Gazprom warns Europe over gas

Russia raised the specter of another bitter dispute over energy supplies on Tuesday as state-owned energy giant Gazprom warned that European gas deliveries could be in imminent danger after Ukraine failed to make an advance payment.

Gazprom said Kyiv had 219 million cubic meters of gas at its disposal but that this would run out in two days. If the Ukrainians made no further pre-payments, Russia would cut off its gas supplies. Europe receives roughly a third of its gas from Russia, half of which flows through Ukraine.

A statement by Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller spoke of a "complete termination of the Russian gas supplies to Ukraine, which creates serious risks for the gas transit to Europe."

Fighting in eastern Ukraine

The energy standoff threatened to exacerbate hostilities in Ukraine's war-torn eastern regions, where a fragile ceasefire between Ukrainian troops and Russia-backed rebels has reportedly been violated by both sides.

Kyiv and Moscow have been trading barbs over energy payments and supplies for the last year as the civil war has raged, leaving more than 5,600 people dead.

Last year, Russia completely cut off its gas supplies to Ukraine for six months before the two sides signed an agreement in Brussels, under which Kyiv agreed to pay off some of its debts and make advance payments for gas deliveries in the winter months.

Gazprom's Tuesday statement came a day after Ukraine's state energy company, Naftogaz, accused Russia of failing to honor that deal. Naftogaz said it had wired Russia money for 114 million cubic meters of gas but only received 47 million.

It also followed an announcement by Russia that it would send some supplies to rebel-held areas of Ukraine after Kyiv stopped providing energy to those regions.

cjc/ng (Reuters, AFP)