Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Gazprom-Ukraine rift threatens EU gas supply

In a post at the WSJ's Energy Roundup we are alerted to this Financial Times story.

Here's another take, with the EU-wide implications in the headline, from The Telegraph:

Fears of a new energy crisis in Europe were mounting after Russia threatened to cut gas supplies to Ukraine just two days after an election that could see a pro-Western government formed in Kiev.

The warning, which brought fresh accusations that Russia was using its natural resources to bully its neighbours, raised the prospect of a repeat of a gas dispute between the two countries last year that led to substantial energy shortfalls in the rest of Europe.

The EU Commission called last night for a "swift settlement" to the crisis.Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom denied charges that the Kremlin was seeking to punish Ukraine for an election that looks likely to hand control of parliament to the leaders of the 2004 Orange Revolution....MORE