|
Ukraine will not start delivering Russian gas
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 11:19 AM PST
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — The head of Ukraine’s gas company says it will not resume deliveries of Russian gas to Europe today and blames conditions set by Russia’s Gazprom.
Russia opened a tap to Ukraine on Tuesday, raising hopes supplies to Europe would be restored nearly a week after they were halted.
But Ukraine’s gas company Naftogaz did not deliver the gas to Europe, saying Gazprom demanded it use a route that was technically arduous and would force it to halt supplies to a large swath of its own territory.
Naftogaz head Oleh Dubina said Gazprom made a similar request today. He said Naftogaz will not agree to halt supplies to Ukrainian consumers.
The politically charged dispute has dramatically lowered supplies to Europe and angered the European Union. |