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German Gas Importers Say Gas Supply Turns Normal After Russia- Ukraine Gas Row

Posted on: Wednesday, 4 January 2006, 09:00 CST

German gas importers say gas supply turns normal after Russia- Ukraine gas row

BERLIN, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- E.on Ruhrgas and Wingas, Germany's two major gas importing companies said Tuesday that the amount of gas pumping Germany via a main pipeline from Russia through Ukraine recovered to normal level two days after Russia cut off gas supply to Kiev amid a dispute over gas prices.

"The pressure in the pipelines has been normal again since this morning," said Andreas Reichel, a spokesman for E.on-Ruhras in Essen.

On Monday, one of the two east-west pipelines crossing Ukraine had supplied 30 percent less gas than usual. German news agency DPA quoted Reichel as saying the company had obtained larger supplies of gas from other European sources to plug the shortfall.

He said his company estimated that nearly 100 million cubic meters of gas that Russia's Gazprom had pumped Monday evening had gone missing. Three pipelines dedicated to supplying western Europe passed through Ukraine.

Russia and some western European countries accused Ukraine of siphoning from western Europe supplies in the pipelines passing through its territory. But Kiev has denied the allegations.

A spokesman for Kassel-based Wingas said that after a temporary decline in pressure, "our supplies vis Ukraine into Germany are proceeding freely and the situation has normalized".

Wingas, in which Gazprom holds 35 percent of its shares, said that effect on the company was limited as it had the biggest underground gas storage facility in western Europe.

"We are being kept constantly informed by the Russians," said the spokesman.

Germany is heavily dependent on Russia in gas supply, with 35 percent of its gas need imported from Russia.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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