Oil transit row
December 28, 2009
Russia has informed the EU that Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary might be affected by a cut in Russian oil supplies, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Monday.
Russian oil company Transneft earlier accused Ukraine of setting "unacceptable" terms for oil transit.
Kyiv downplayed the tensions, saying that Russia's warning to the EU was merely aimed at discrediting Ukraine as a reliable transit country.
The renewed concerns come as the International Monetary Fund has rejected Ukraine's request for a 2 billion dollar loan to help the country meet obligations by the end of the year.
In recent years, price disputes between Moscow and Kyiv had repeatedly led to supply cuts which left millions of Europeans in the cold.
Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic most hit
"It's not about a shortage of oil," Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico told reporters on Monday. "It's about a bilateral dispute between two countries who are not EU members but who are vitally important for Slovakia and a few other EU nations when it comes to energy supplies."
He said his country had received a letter warning of an "increased risk" over oil shortages and that Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic would be hit hardest.
Hungary's energy ministry on Monday confirmed that Budapest had also been informed of Russia's warning over oil shortages from January 1.
Ukraine moved quickly to dispel any such concerns, saying that the EU had "no reasons to worry" about possible disruptions.
Government spokesman Bogdan Sokolovsky said the Ukrainian state energy company Naftogaz was seeking higher transit fees merely so that they would reflect inflation and rising maintenance costs.
Russia's Transneft, however, has called the new terms for the oil transit via the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Yuzhny unacceptable.
"The process is continuing and I hope we will solve it before the New Year," Transneft's president Nikolai Tokarev said. "But if they insist on their terms, we will also review the prospects of supplies."
Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom, however, said on Monday there was no danger of a repeat of the gas rows with Ukraine that had left parts of Europe with drastic energy shortages in recent winters.
ai/Reuters/AP/dpa
Editor: Susan Houlton