Ukraine starts to steal Gas in transit to Europe

[SPN]

This codology has been coming for a long time, but the Ukrainians have finally gone and tripped the switch.

Short version:

Russia sells gas to the Ukraine at one third of the market price.

Ukraine is bust and can't afford to pay (even at this massively discounted price).

Russia gave the Ukrainians a couple of months warning that they had to bring their account up to date by December 31st or else the tap would be turned off.

Ukraine assumed that the EU would never let this happen and called Russia's bluff.

Russia turned off the Gas intended for Ukraine.

Ukraine started stealing Gas that was intended for other customers.


Ukraine left in the cold as Russians cut gas

Russia cut all gas supplies to Ukraine yesterday, raising the threat of shortfalls across Europe.

State-run Gazprom shut down pipelines after talks with Naftogaz, its Ukrainian equivalent, broke down without a supply deal for 2009.

The move raised fears that Ukraine would siphon off gas bound for Europe as it did during a similar dispute in 2006; 80pc of the gas Europe buys from Russia arrives through pipelines that cross Ukraine.

A Gazprom spokesman said: "We have cut off all gas that is meant for Ukraine. All our other contractual obligations are being fulfilled."

Ukraine accused of stealing gas

Russian gas giant Gazprom has accused Ukraine of stealing gas meant for other European countries.

"The Ukrainian side openly admits it is stealing gas and has no shame about it," company spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said.

Hungary says gas pressure from Ukraine drops

Pressure on Hungary's natural gas pipeline that ships Russian gas via Ukraine has dropped but it is not causing any disruption in gas supply, oil and gas firm MOL MOLB.BU said on Friday.

"Pressure started to decline at 1500 GMT. Pressure is declining continuously. However, the drop has not yet reached a critical level," Edina Lakatos, a spokeswoman for MOL's natural gas transmission subsidiary Foldgazszallito Zrt., told Reuters.

She said pressure on the pipeline was at around 45 bars, below the contracted level.

Janos Zsuga, Chief Executive of MOL's gas transmission subsidiary told Reuters that the pressure which Ukraine has to provide under contract was 48 plus/minus one bar.

Zsuga also said that Ukraine had informed Hungary that it was planning to reduce the daily amount of gas shipments by 5 million cubic metres.

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[merle haggard]

I doubt very much that russia will simply sit back and permit Ukraine to pilfer its gas buckshee . One would assume therell be a response of some kind .

[Trampas]

I doubt very much that russia will simply sit back and permit Ukraine to pilfer its gas buckshee . One would assume therell be a response of some kind .

....Or even a report. Boom !

[Bobert]

Ukraine paid a billion dollars last month.

I still maintain Gazprom was right to cut it off though. Now shame on Ukraine for stealing ours.

[merle haggard]

id be surprised if they went that far but it might be a good idea for the ukranian rulers to be careful about who they accept a nice cup of tea from

[cyberianpan]

This codology has been coming for a long time.

COD ?

Is there cash on delivery or how do we pay for this gas... will some bondsmen end up out of pocket ?

cYp

[SPN]

We're starting to see some attempts at Russia-bashing in the media, but the fact remains that the Ukrainians get a two thirds discount on the price of Gas, but they still refuse to pay the bill.

Ukraine says they aren't stealing Gas, but pressures are down in Hungary, Romania, Poland and Bulgaria.

Strangely (or not) the pressure hasn't dropped on the pipeline that feeds directly to Germany. Hmmmm. Curious that.


Now read these two stories, and remember that the UK is ahead of us on the pipeline, and the UK doesn't have adequate Gas storage capacity.

Russia gas row disruption spreads to Bulgaria

Russian gas flows to Bulgaria dropped on Saturday in a fresh sign that Moscow's decision to cut off its neighbour Ukraine in a row over pricing was disrupting supplies to some European Union members.

Bulgaria's Bulgargaz operator joined energy firms in Poland, Romania and Hungary in saying they had noted falls in supply, though the main pipeline through the Czech Republic to Germany -- Europe's biggest economy -- was working normally.

Russia has accused Ukraine of stealing gas in transit to Europe but in Kiev, state energy firm Naftogaz hit back by saying Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom had itself reduced supplies to Europe and was using "energy blackmail."

Forecasters warn of a record breaking January cold snap

IT MAY only be the first days of the new year, but forecasters are already predicting January will be record-breakingly cold.

Parts of the country experienced the coldest December in almost 30 years. Now British-based meteorology service Weatheraction has predicted this will be one of the five coldest Januarys on record.

Met Eireann will not give predictions for any longer than eight or nine days ahead, but forecaster Michael Cleary agreed that the coming days would be cold and dry, with a high risk of frost and fog.

Somehow, I think Gordon Brown might end up paying the Ukrainians Gas bill.

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[forest]

good for then
do you have any idea how fecking cold it is in Kyiv this time of the year

[Bobert]

Should've paid their bills then, shouldn't they?

[wysiwyg]

I doubt very much that russia will simply sit back and permit Ukraine to pilfer its gas buckshee . One would assume therell be a response of some kind .

Yeah.. the EU will pay the bill.. it's kind of like South Armagh fuel smuggling.. on a massive scale.. fair play to the Ukranians..

You can just imagine the conversations between some of the Prime Ministers in Europe and the Ukranian PM... with the Ukranian looking bemused while saying "Gas, what gas, we never touched the gas"... and his energy advisors pissing themselves in the background