Putin to meet Gazprom chief amid Russia-Ukraine gas standoff

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2 hours ago

MOSCOW (AFP) — Russia's powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was to meet the head of state-controlled gas giant Gazprom on Monday to discuss a standoff with Ukraine that has reduced supplies to the European Union.

Putin was to meet Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller to talk about the dispute in which the company cut supplies to Ukraine on New Year's Day saying it was owed more than two billion dollars.

Putin warned on New Year's Eve prior to the cutoff that Ukraine would face "severe consequences" if it disrupted gas supplies to Europe. Gazprom has now repeatedly accused Ukraine of doing just that, though Kiev denies the charge.

The two ex-Soviet states remain deadlocked Monday after trading accusations of manipulation and theft and after several EU countries reported drops in supplies. No face-to-face negotiations were expected.

An EU delegation arrived in Kiev to discuss the situation, the office of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko announced, amid an intense lobbying blitz by Russia and Ukraine for support from the 27-member bloc.

The delegation was said to include Martin Riman, trade and industry minister of the Czech Republic, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, and Matthias Ruete, the EU Commission's chief transport and energy official.

On Sunday, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said Ukraine had stolen 25 million cubic metres of gas over a 24-hour period and announced that Russia had asked the EU to provide monitoring of Ukraine's gas transit system.

The "independent monitoring" was needed after Gazprom's own monitors were not allowed to work in Ukraine, Kupriyanov said.

But the EU has been reluctant to take sides, with a spokesman for the European Commission telling AFP that the dispute was a "bilateral problem."

Ukraine's state-run gas company Naftogaz on Sunday accused Gazprom of "technical manipulation" that had led to the reduction of gas supplies to Europe.

The Russian firm has insisted however that it is under no obligation to provide Ukraine with the "technical gas" needed to maintain pipeline pressure at necessary levels.

Each side has threatened lawsuits against the other and blamed the other for the breakdown in negotiations.

Russia cut supplies to Ukraine on January 1 due to delays in payment for gas supplied in November and December that it put at 1.6 billion dollars, as well as a demand for more than half a billion dollars in late-payment fines.

EU members the Czech Republic, Romania, Poland and Bulgaria have reported shortfalls in supplies, although all say they have sufficient reserves to cope for the time being.

Ukraine warned Saturday however that the dispute could cause "serious problems" for the EU within 10 days if not resolved by then.

Ukraine is the main route for Russian gas supplies to the EU, which relies on Russia for about a quarter of its gas needs.

Unlike a similar gas dispute in 2006, experts say EU states and Ukraine itself have accumulated sufficient gas reserves to cope without fresh Russian supplies for several weeks.

Some analysts have tied the dispute to Moscow's anger at Kiev's pro-Western government for seeking to join the NATO military alliance and for its support of Georgia during the Russian-Georgian war in August.