A gas worker from Ukraine's state gas
firm Naftogaz adjusts valves at the Bobrovnytska station in the village of
Mryn. (Xinhua/AFP File Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
MOSCOW, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Russia will suspend gas
supplies to Ukraine on Thursday morning, Russia's state gas monopoly Gazprom
Chief Executive Alexei Miller said on Wednesday.
Talks on natural gas exports from Russia to Ukraine
in 2009 "ended fruitlessly" and Gazprom will completely cut off gas supplies to
Ukraine at 10:00 Moscow time (0700 GMT) on Jan. 1, Miller said.
"The Ukrainian side will bear all responsibility for
the situation," he was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying. However, Miller
said Gazprom will do its best to make sure European consumers receive their gas
on time.
Gazprom says Ukraine owes over 2 billion U.S. dollars
for gas it imported. While Ukraine said it had transferred 1.5 billion dollars
to an account to cover its debt, Miller said Gazprom has never seen on its
accounts the money Ukraine paid.
Gazprom had insisted that Ukraine pay 418 U.S.
dollars per 1,000 cubic meters of gas next year, more than double what it paid
in 2008. The Russian energy giant on Wednesday offered to charge Ukraine a
reduced price of 250 dollars, which Ukrainian officials said was still too high.
Earlier in the evening, Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin said at a televised meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev that
"the consequences could be dire for Ukraine if it annuls its gas transit
contract with Gazprom."
Ukraine sits on the main transit route for Russian
gas exports to Europe, accounting for the transmission of a quarter of the
continent's gas supply.
In 2006, a dispute over gas prices between Kiev and
Moscow sent jitters among European customers after Gazprom cut all gas supplies
to Ukraine.
KIEV, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine pledged to pay more than
2 billion U.S. dollars to settle its debt for Russian gas imports, the country's
gas company Naftogaz spokesman Valentyn Zemlyansky said on Tuesday.
"Naftogaz will take loans from Ukraine's two biggest
state-controlled banks to pay off the debt," Zemlyansky said, adding that the
money will be transferred to Russia late Tuesday.
The Ukrainian government said it will guarantee "all
measures" needed to fulfill the order on the loans. Full story
MOSCOW, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- The era of cheap gas is coming
to an end, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday, while proposing
to establish a permanent organization of world gas producers.
Despite the global financial crisis and a slowing
world economy, the era of cheap energy, including cheap gas, is coming to an
end, the Interfax news agency quoted Putin as telling an international meeting
of gas producers. Full story
MOSCOW, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko held talks here on
Monday, nodding on a bilateral gas deal, said the Kremlin.
The two heads of state agreed on the principles of
the sale of Russian natural gas to Belarus and payment for it in 2009, said
Kremlin spokesperson Natalya Timakova. Full story
