Russia Halts Gas Sales to Ukraine

By JIM HEINTZ

Russia halts gas sales to Ukraine

MOSCOW Russias natural gas monopoly halted sales to Ukraine in a price dispute Sunday and began reducing pressure in transmission lines that also carry substantial supplies to western Europe.

Ukraines natural gas company Naftogaz acknowledged the reduction by Russias Gazprom.

Gas is not flowing at all through some transit routes, which can lead to a fall in pressure in all the pipelines and limit the overall supply of gas to Ukraine and Europe, said Naftogaz spokesman Eduard Zaniuk.

However, he said, for the people and municipal services there will be enough gas.

Gazprom had given Ukraine a deadline of midnight Saturday to agree to pay quadruple the amount it previously paid for Russian gas, which accounts for about a third of the consumption in the country of 48 million people.

The showdown has underlined the tensions between the two former Soviet republics since Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko a West- leaning leader who wants to reduce Moscows clout in his country defeated a Russian-backed rival in a bitter electoral battle a year ago.

The gas crisis comes as Ukraine prepares for parliamentary elections in March, in which Yushchenkos bloc faces a strong challenge from the party of Viktor Yanukovych, who lost the presidential ballot after mass street protests forced a revote.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Sunday that Ukrainian authorities consciously decided to ruin the talks process with the Russian side and to use the gas problem almost to create the image of an enemy with the goal of manipulating the internal political situation.

On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine could continue paying the old price of $50 per 1,000 cubic meters for the first quarter of 2006, but only if Ukraine agreed by the end of the day to start paying the new price of $230 in the second quarter.