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Gazprom says gas supply to Europe, Hungary may be cut in January - paper

Hungary may be left without natural gas from January next year, the spokesman of Russian gas giant Gazprom has told local daily Népszabadság on Friday. This situation may emerge if Russia and Ukraine fail to resolve their dispute over debts and prices.

Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told the paper Ukraine was not playing by the rules, which could possibly result in gas supply to be shut down also towards Hungary as of January.

This, however, may happen only if the two parties fail to come to terms and reach a new agreement after their current natural gas transmission contracts expire. (The full interview will be published in the Saturday issue of the paper.)

There is a recurring debate between the two countries on the same subject. The Soviet-era gas pipeline delivers about 20% of Europe's gas from Russia across Ukraine. Europe has every right to worry - especially as demand for gas soars in the winter - , as the two countries had once already cut their supplies (in January 2006).

Gazprom claims Ukraine owes it USD 2.4 billion for September-November gas supplies plus interest for late payment. Ukraine, though, says it owes “only" USD 2 bn.

Earlier this week European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs has already called on the parties to put an end to their dispute.

"The Commissioner calls on both parties to reach a definitive agreement that solves their bilateral problems once and for all as soon as possible," a spokesman to the commissioner told Reuters.