European nations hit by gas dispute shortages

The Russia-Ukraine natural gas dispute hit Europe with the force of a winter storm, cutting or limiting supplies to at least a dozen nations.

Tens of thousands of people were left without heat and governments scrambled to find alternate energy sources.

After days of blaming each other for the crisis, Russia and Ukraine agreed to hold new talks in Moscow tomorrow.

The two feuding neighbours are locked in a dispute over pricing and overdue payments. Russia cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine on January 1 but had promised to keep gas moving to Europe.

Shocked by how fast the shortages were spreading, the European Union yesterday demanded a quick end to the quarrel – a sharp turnaround from their earlier stance, when officials had downplayed the conflict between Moscow and Kiev as primarily a business matter.

But by last night, gauges on delivery pipelines to seven countries – including some totally dependent on Russian gas – pointed towards zero and an increasing number of other nations reported significant reductions.

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of stealing gas and ordered Russia’s gas giant Gazprom to continue a 15% cut in daily shipments through Ukraine.

Ukraine has acknowledged diverting some of the gas, but says it has the right to use it to run compressors at pumping stations along the pipeline network.

Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Croatia, Serbia and Turkey reported a halt in gas shipments while France, Germany, Austria, Poland and Hungary reported substantial drops in supplies from Russia.

Some governments and utilities sought to reassure the public, saying well-stocked storage facilities would allow them to weather the storm.

Still, the growing fallout from the dispute evoked memories of the 2006 Gazprom-Ukraine gas war – and starkly reflected once again the continent’s energy dependence on Moscow.

Balkan nations appeared to be the worst hit.

In Bulgaria, which depends totally on Russian gas, the eastern cities of Varna and Dobrich were left without any gas due to the cut-off. Authorities said 12,000 Varna households were without central heating amid freezing temperatures.

With pipeline operator Bulgargaz saying Bulgaria had gas reserves for only “a few days”, President Georgi Parvanov urged authorities to restart a mothballed unit of its nuclear plant.

Serbia, which also relies on Russia for 90% of its gas, said all supplies ceased yesterday afternoon. With little in storage, serious outages were possible within days.

Turkey, facing a complete gas cut-off from Russia, considered alternate supply options, including an offer from Iran to increase supplies through an Iranian-Turkish pipeline.

With icy temperatures hitting central Europe, Germany, Europe’s largest economy, also braced for emergency mode. E.On Ruhrgas, the nation’s biggest gas importer, announced it expected all Russian natural gas shipments sent via a pipeline through Ukraine to stop.

Germany imports are close to 40% of its gas from Russia – 80% through Ukraine. But the economic ministry said Germany maintained 46 well-stocked underground storage facilities and experts estimated that reserves were enough to cover demand for 40 days.

France, Britain and much of northern Europe were less affected.

But with Europe receiving a quarter of its natural gas from Russia – with close to 80% going through Ukraine – other governments urged consumers to cut back on gas use.

Croatia was temporarily reducing supplies to industrial customers. Austria saw a 90% drop in the usual amount of supplies and Czech officials spoke of significant overnight reductions. Poland’s gas monopoly reported that deliveries of Russian natural gas via Ukraine had plummeted 85%.

Hungary – which gets 40% of its gas through Ukraine – ordered power plants to begin burning other fuels today if they could, with selective rationing a possible next step.

The European Union expressed outrage, saying spigots were turned off “without prior warning and in clear contradiction” to earlier assurances by top Russian and Ukrainian authorities.

“This situation is completely unacceptable,” said European Commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger.

Washington, which blamed Moscow in 2006, was careful not to take sides this time.

“This episode underscores the critical need to diversify sources of natural gas, as well as other energy supplies,” said US state department spokesman Sean McCormack.