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Russia to restart gas pumps to Europe on Tuesday
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-13 09:15 KIEV, Ukraine -- Russia's state gas monopoly has promised to resume shipping Europe-bound gas through Ukraine on Tuesday morning, nearly a week after it shut off the taps and forced countless Europeans to huddle cold and resentful in freezing homes.
However, a spokesman for the Gazprom monopoly indicated lingering problems could still prolong the crisis.
Russia balked at the deal after Ukraine tried to add a rider declaration that offended Moscow. Ukrainian government officials clarified the deal Monday and said the declaration was not legally binding. After that, the deputy chairman of the Gazprom monopoly, Alexander Medvedev, said gas supplies would be started at 0700 GMT (2 a.m. EST) Tuesday "if there are no obstacles." That could be a significant caveat given the recent sparring between Moscow and Kiev. "Supplies could be restored tomorrow morning, but we remain realistic. In the last 10 days, there have been quite a few hopeful moments," Czech Energy Minister Martin Riman said at a European Union news conference in Brussels. Russia shut off all gas to Ukrainian pipelines Wednesday, accusing Ukraine of siphoning off gas intended for downstream countries. About 20 percent of all the gas consumed in Europe comes from Russia through pipelines that cross Ukraine. Ukraine denies the siphoning charge, but Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Ukraine will have to use some gas from Russia as so-called "technical gas" to power compressors that push Europe-bound gas through the pipelines. That position potentially "creates a crisis situation with the transit of Russian gas to European users," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said in a statement Monday. If Ukraine "cannot guarantee the technical gas by itself from its own resources, it should obtain it and not divert it illegally." |
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