Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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December 31, 2008

Russia Accuses Ukraine of Blackmail on Gas Transit
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=2140E40:A6F02AD83191E1606A48AF16A4AEFA94D937473925D9872C&
 
Gazprom says Ukraine has threatened to seize gas intended for western
European customers if no deal is reached on gas pricing for Ukraine 
Russia and Ukraine have ended 2008 with an escalating dispute over gas
deliveries through a key pipeline that supplies much of Western Europe.
Each side is blaming the other for the dispute. A spokesman for the
Russian gas giant, Gazprom, held up a letter at a Moscow new conference
on New Year's Eve that he says was signed by the head of Ukraine's gas
company. He says the letter threatened to cut off supplies flowing
through a pipeline that supplies Western Europe with 25 percent of its
gas. Chairman of Russia's Gazprom Board, Dmitry Medvedev (File)Gazprom's
deputy chief, Alexander Medvedev referred to the Ukrainian letter as
blackmail and unprecedented in the history of the international energy
business. He added that Ukraine would be violating a contract it signed
to continue deliveries to Western Europe through the end of 2010.
Medvedev says Ukrainians did not respond when asked directly why they do
not want to honor the contract. He says Ukrainians insist there is no
contract, even after they are shown signatures and laws, simply because
they do not want an agreement. A spokesman for Naftohaz, the Ukranian
gas company, told VOA that its obligation extends only to a contractual
framework for gas transit valid through 2013. However, Valentyn
Zemliansky says agreement on specific issues is reached on an annual
basis. Zemliansky says additional agreements cover the volume and
quality of gas, as well as transit costs, and he notes that an agreement
on these items for 2009 has not been signed. Senior Gazprom officials
have made conflicting statements about the status of Ukrainian payment
of its $2 billion debt to Gazprom. Gazprom chairman, Alexei Miller, says
the funds have yet to appear in company accounts. That statement came a
day after Ukraine announced it had paid its obligations for November and
December deliveries. However, a deputy to the Gazprom chairman,
Alexander Medvedev, says payment has in fact been received. Gazprom!
  Chairman Alexei Miller has said there must be an agreement for Russia
 to have a legal basis to continue gas deliveries to Ukraine after
January 1.Gazprom has been seeking to increase Ukraine's price for gas
in the New Year to $418 per 1,000 cubic meters, more than double the
current rate. In 2006, Western European consumers noticed a drop in gas
pipeline pressure after Russia cut supplies to Ukraine in a similar
mid-winter payment dispute. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has
warned that Ukrainian relations with Russia and the European Union will
suffer serious consequences if Kyiv disrupts supplies to Western Europe.