by Xinhua writer Shang Jun
BRUSSELS, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- All Russian gas supplies
to Europe through Ukraine were cut off on Wednesday as a gas row between Russia
and Ukraine escalated, prompting the European Union (EU) to send monitors to
check the gas flow.
"We really hope that the Russians put the gas in the
... Ukrainian network and that Ukrainians do not interrupt the gas from Russia
coming to the European Union," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso
told reporters in Prague after a meeting with the Czech EU presidency.
"We have received assurances, both from (Russian)
Prime Minister Putin and (Ukrainian) Prime Minister Tymoshenko, that they both
accept international monitors to verify on the ground that this is really
working," he added.
Russia shut off all gas supplies to Europe via
Ukraine earlier on Wednesday, accusing Kiev of "stealing" the gas in transit,
but Ukraine's state-owned gas company Naftogaz denied and blamed Russia for the
spreading shortage of gas in many European countries.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said his
country will only resume gas supplies when international monitors are in place.
Caught up in the gas row between Russia and Ukraine
and hit by freezing weather, several Eastern European countries were faced with
a serious gas crisis, with factories shut down, schools closed and thousands of
people left without gas for heating.
As a country which virtually has no other gas supply
source except Russia, Bulgaria had already declared a state of crisis.
Seventy-two schools in Bulgaria, reliant on gas-powered heating, were closed on
Wednesday.
The Bulgarian government said it would receive part
of the five billion euros (6.8 billion U.S. dollars) that the EU had set aside
to tackle the financial crisis in order to deal with the effects of the cutoff
of gas supplies.
Croatia also declared a state of emergency, while
Hungary limited gas supplies to industries, causing a Hungarian unit of Japanese
carmaker Suzuki to halt production.
The Slovak-based factories of French carmaker PSA
Peugeot and Korean Kia Motors also said they would stop production on Thursday
because gas supplies had been cut off.
The International Energy Agency warned that Bulgaria,
Romania, Greece and Turkey would have difficulty providing electricity and
heating if the cold weather and gas disruptions continued next week.
Faced with a severe threat of gas shortage, the EU is
adjusting its position of being reluctant to intervene in the Russian-Ukraine
gas row.
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said both
Russian gas monopoly Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftogaz and their government
representatives had been invited for a meeting in Brussels on Thursday, which
will set technical conditions of a monitoring mission.
"If this is agreed, nothing will stand in the way for transit
supplies to be restored ... That does not mean that success is 100
percent assured," Topolanek said.
Earlier in the day, Commission President Barroso
talked on the phone with both Putin and Tymoshenko, urging the prime ministers
to restore full gas supplies to the EU immediately.
"It is unacceptable that the EU's gas supply security
is being taken hostage to negotiations between Russia and Ukraine," Barroso
said. "Now the two countries' reputation as reliable partners to the EU is at
stake."
Topolanek warned that the EU will intervene if Russia
and Ukraine fail to solve their dispute by Thursday.
"There is a political dimension to this problem,"
Topolanek said in Prague. "Tomorrow is a key day. If supplies are not restored
tomorrow, then we will have to see a stronger EU intervention."
Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine on Jan. 1
after the two countries failed to reach an agreement on gas prices for 2009,
immediately resulting in disruptions of transit supplies to EU member states.
About a quarter of the gas used in the EU, or more
than 40 percent of the bloc's imports, comes from Russia.
Ukraine sits on the main transit route for Russia's
gas exports, with about 80 percent of Russian gas supplied to the EU passing
through its territory.
A similar dispute over gas prices between Kiev and
Moscow erupted in 2006 when Gazprom cut all gas supplies to Ukraine, raising
deep concerns among European customers.
Putin approves halt in gas supplies to
Europe via Ukraine
MOSCOW, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin on Wednesday approved a proposal by the state-run gas monopoly Gazprom to
completely cut off supplies to Europe via Ukraine.
During a meeting with Putin in the northern city of St.
Petersburg, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller proposed to stop gas supplies through
Ukraine, accusing Kiev of "stealing" gas in transit. Full story
Bulgaria to get EU money over Russian
gas supplies cutoff
SOFIA, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria is going to receive
part of the five billion euro that the European Union had set aside to tackle
the global financial crisis in order to deal with the effects of the cutoff of
gas supplies as a result of the Russia-Ukraine price dispute, the Government
Information Service reported Wednesday night. Full story
Bulgaria can live on gas shortage
regime for 100 days: president
SOFIA, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria faces no austerity
measures in electricity consumption, and no termination of central heating, and
its economy could function for up to 100 days on the country's reserves,
Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov announced Wednesday. Full story
EU urged to reconsider role of natural
gas
BRUSSELS, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- The natural gas shortfalls
caused by a Russia-Ukraine dispute demonstrate the need for the European Union
(EU) to reconsider the role for natural gas as a bridging fuel to sustainable
energy, said the WWF on Wednesday.Full
story
