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Russia to restart gas pumps to Europe on Tuesday

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-13 09:15

KIEV, Ukraine -- Russia's state gas monopoly has promised to resume shipping Europe-bound gas through Ukraine on Tuesday morning, nearly a week after it shut off the taps and forced countless Europeans to huddle cold and resentful in freezing homes.

General view of the gas station near the border between Ukraine and Poland in the settlement of Drozdovychi, 120 km (75 miles) west of Lviv, January 12, 2009. Russia, Ukraine and the European Union have now all added their signatures to a gas monitoring agreement aimed at restarting blocked gas transit to Europe via Ukraine. [Agencies]

However, a spokesman for the Gazprom monopoly indicated lingering problems could still prolong the crisis.

More than 15 countries have been the inadvertent victims of a complex and acrimonious wrangle between Russia and Ukraine over gas prices, past debts and allegations of theft. They also jockeyed over an EU-brokered deal to send pipeline monitors to ensure that restored gas shipments reach their destination.

Russia balked at the deal after Ukraine tried to add a rider declaration that offended Moscow. Ukrainian government officials clarified the deal Monday and said the declaration was not legally binding.

After that, the deputy chairman of the Gazprom monopoly, Alexander Medvedev, said gas supplies would be started at 0700 GMT (2 a.m. EST) Tuesday "if there are no obstacles."

That could be a significant caveat given the recent sparring between Moscow and Kiev.

"Supplies could be restored tomorrow morning, but we remain realistic. In the last 10 days, there have been quite a few hopeful moments," Czech Energy Minister Martin Riman said at a European Union news conference in Brussels.

Russia shut off all gas to Ukrainian pipelines Wednesday, accusing Ukraine of siphoning off gas intended for downstream countries. About 20 percent of all the gas consumed in Europe comes from Russia through pipelines that cross Ukraine.

Ukraine denies the siphoning charge, but Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Ukraine will have to use some gas from Russia as so-called "technical gas" to power compressors that push Europe-bound gas through the pipelines.

That position potentially "creates a crisis situation with the transit of Russian gas to European users," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said in a statement Monday. If Ukraine "cannot guarantee the technical gas by itself from its own resources, it should obtain it and not divert it illegally."

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