Gazprom: Ukraine Threatens to Seize Russian Gas

By Nataliya Vasilyeva

MOSCOW -- Russia's state gas monopoly Gazprom said Wednesday that Ukraine has threatened to seize gas intended for European customers if no deal is reached on gas shipments to Ukraine starting Jan. 1.

Gazprom's deputy chairman Alexander Medvedev said Ukraine's statement amounted to "blackmail" of Russia and the European Union.

He condemned the threat contained in a letter from Ukraine's state gas company Naftogaz as "utterly irresponsible," saying that violates Ukraine's obligations under a previous contract.

A seizure threat would raise fears of disruptions in supplies to Europe similar to those which occurred amid a similar dispute in January 2006. The announcement comes as Russian and Ukrainian officials remain locked in tough talks on Ukraine's debt over past gas shipments and future deliveries.

Gazprom supplies a quarter of the gas used by EU nations, and around 80% of it goes through Ukraine.

France, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, urged Ukraine and Russia on Wednesday "to respect their international engagements as a transit country and producer of gas destined for the European Union."

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal told an online briefing, "We hope that the commercial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is settled through negotiations."

Ukraine's Naftogaz spokesman Valentyn Zemlyansky and other Ukrainian officials refused to comment, but Medvedev showed a copy of the letter from Naftogas chief Oleh Dubina at a news conference Wednesday.

Medvedev said that Gazprom has a contract with Naftogaz for transit of Russian gas delivered to Western Europe valid until Dec. 31, 2010.