MOSCOW--Russia's state gas firm OAO Gazprom on Tuesday said it
would halt deliveries of natural gas to Ukraine in two days time
when volumes that Kiev has paid for run out, posing "serious risks"
to gas transit to Europe.
The comments by Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller comes a
day after Ukrainian energy firm Naftogaz accused Gazprom of
breaching a temporary deal reached last October for Naftogaz to pay
in advance for gas deliveries by shipping lower volumes. That deal
expires at the end of March.
Supply stoppages to Ukraine have happened twice in recent years
and have led to cuts in gas deliveries to the European Union, which
receives around half of all the gas it buys from Russia via
Ukraine.
Mr. Miller said Gazprom hasn't received the latest prepayment
from Kiev, and that only 219 million cubic meters--enough for two
days of deliveries--remained of volumes already purchased.
Naftogaz on Sunday requested an explanation from Gazprom as to
why it wasn't sending the prepaid volumes, and accused the Russian
energy giant of violating the October agreement. Naftogaz said
Gazprom delivered 47 million cubic meters on Sunday instead of the
114 million cubic meters ordered by Ukraine. Naftogaz said it had a
prepaid balance of 287 million cubic meters of gas with Gazprom as
of Monday.
Ukraine last week said it was cutting supplies to areas
controlled by Russian-backed separatists, blaming damage to
pipelines from shelling. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev
told his government to supply gas to those regions as "humanitarian
aid," but Gazprom quickly said it was making deliveries there under
Ukraine's existing contract.
Write to James Marson at james.marson@wsj.com
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