Russia's Gazprom blames Ukraine for gas supply drop
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-25 08:59

Russia's state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom on Tuesday accused Ukraine of siphoning an increasing volume of gas from a key transit pipeline at the expense of other European nations further west.

Gazprom said Monday that Ukraine was taking more gas than agreed from the pipeline that transits its territory, and the company's spokesman, Sergei Kupriyanov, claimed Ukraine's siphoning had increased Tuesday.

"Ukraine has increased the offtake of the Russian gas during the last 24 hours," Kupriyanov said in remarks broadcast by Channel One television. "The additional gas volumes we supplied for the European consumers haven't reached Europe."

Earlier on Tuesday, Italy's oil and gas company Eni SpA said it expected natural gas supplies from Russia to be 8.1 percent below requested volumes on Tuesday.

The Italian government called on the public Tuesday to reduce heating use by one hour a day and lower thermostats by about 2 degrees to help conserve energy.

Ukrainian Fuel and Energy Minister Ivan Plachkov acknowledged Tuesday that Ukraine was taking more Russian gas than earlier agreed because of the cold spell.

"The situation is extremely difficult," Plachkov said during a phone conference with regional administration heads, according to the Interfax news agency. "Ukraine is indeed consuming more gas now than stipulated by preliminary agreements with our Russian partners."

Plachkov urged local authorities to introduce energy-saving measures. Earlier Tuesday, his ministry informed regional administrations that the population would have to reduce demand by about 15 percent, and industry would also have to scale back.

Ukraine's Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov acknowledged that Ukraine's gas consumption had surged by 42 percent over 24 hours but claimed Gazprom had sanctioned the increase.

Gazprom caused consternation earlier this month when its gas deliveries to Europe fell sharply because of a price dispute with Ukraine, whose pipeline network transits gas supplies to the rest of Europe.

About one-quarter of Europe's gas comes from Russia, and both the earlier cutoff and the current fall in deliveries have led to calls for Europe to diversify its energy supplies away from Russian gas.