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Russia: Operation to Restore Gas Suppply to Europe Completed

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

Russia: Operation to restore gas suppply to Europe completed

MOSCOW, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Tuesday it had completed operations to restore gas supply to European clients to make up for the shortfalls following its cutoff of supply to Ukraine.

"Gazprom will compensate the European consumers for the volume of gas unlawfully tapped by Ukraine," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

The company promised on Monday to pump an extra 95 million cubic meters of gas per day to European countries after they reported shortfalls in gas deliveries from Russia.

Gazprom accused Ukraine of continuing to siphon off gas intended for European consumers, which is transited via its territory, after a bitter price dispute prompted Russia to cut off gas supply to Ukraine on Sunday.

Ukraine tapped 104.8 million cubic meters of Russian export gas on Sunday and 118.7 million cubic meters on Monday, Kupriyanov said.

In a related development, the biggest importer of gas in Germany, EON Ruhrgas, said on Tuesday that imports of Russian gas had returned to normal after a disruption linked to the dispute between Moscow and Kiev.

"The pressure in the pipelines was back to normal as of this morning," an EON spokesman said.

EON is Germany's largest gas importer with a 60 percent share of the market and holds a 6.5 percent stake in Russian energy giant Gazprom.

German gas companies on Monday reported disruptions in supplies from Russia, a day after Gazprom cut off its supplies to Ukraine over a price dispute.

Germany is by far Europe's biggest importer of gas from Russia, which last year accounted for nearly 38 percent of its consumption.

Russian and Ukrainian officials will hold talks Tuesday on resolving the price dispute, a Gazprom spokesman said.

Russia cut off its gas deliveries to Ukraine on Jan. 1 after Ukraine refused to meet its demand for a fourfold price increase. However, it said it would continue to send full supplies to other European customers that get Russian gas through pipes crossing Ukraine.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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