LONDON, Jan. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Russia's cutoff of natural gas to Ukraine following a price row is to have a limited impact on Britain, which does not rely heavily on Russian gas imports, British Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said on Monday.

    "We are not a heavy importer of gas from Russia, so the effects here should be less than elsewhere," Wicks told BBC radio one day after Russian gas giant Gazprom cut down natural gas supply to Ukraine.

    The Russian side made the decision after Ukraine rejected Mosdow's request to raise the gas price from 50 U.S. dollars per 1,000 cubic meters to 230 dollars to meet market price levels.

    Gazprom provides about half the gas consumed in the European Union (EU) and some 80 percent of that amount is sent through pipelines that cross Ukraine.

    Britain does not import gas directly from Russia, but it is connected to the Europe-wide wholesale gas distribution network through a pipeline that runs beneath the North Sea between Belgium and the north of England.

    EU energy officials are set to convene an emergency session on Wednesday to discuss the gas supply situation of the 25-nation bloc. Enditem