Gazprom suspends gas deliveries to Ukraine over Kyiv non-payment, as chief
Russia’s state-controlled natural-gas giant Gazprom said earlier on November 25 that it had stopped deliveries of gas to Ukraine because of Kyiv’s alleged failure to make the required prepayments.
Gazprom chief Alexei Miller said that as of 0700 GMT Ukraine’s Naftogaz had used up all the gas it had paid for and “no new upfront payment has been made”.
“Refusing to buy Russian gas creates risks for gas transit to Europe and gas supplies for the Ukrainian consumers before this coming winter”, he was quoted by Russian news agency Tass as saying.
Pro-western Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said at a cabinet meeting Wednesday that the government chose to ban all Russian flights from crossing Ukraine’s airspace “as an issue of the national security as well as a response to Russia’s aggressive actions”.
Ukraine has imported 400 mcm of Russian gas so far this month, including 10 mcm on Tuesday, Ukrtransgaz data showed.
“The government is instructing [aviation authority] Ukraerorukh, in line with the norms of worldwide law, to inform the Russian Federation that Russian airlines and Russian aircraft do not have the right to use Ukraine’s airspace any longer”.
Gazprom’s announcement comes as tensions between Moscow and Kyiv have risen again over the annexed Crimea peninsula after explosions in Ukraine cut electricity supplies to most of the territory and Kyiv ordered a halt to goods deliveries.
Gas from Ukraine’s underground storage facilities and reverse gas supplies from Europe could fulfill any shortfall.
Temperatures in Ukraine can drop to as cold as -4 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 degrees Celsius) in winter, and most homes in Ukraine rely on piped gas for central heating.
Kyiv on Oct 25 barred most Russian airlines from flying into Ukraine – a decision that prompted immediate reciprocal measures by Moscow.
The European Commission said it was not anxious about the situation for now.
