BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
24/01/2006
Gazprom Looks to Belarus to Save Frozen Europe's Gas Needs
According to the Moscow Times, Reuters reports that "Gas monopoly Gazprom is shipping more gas to Europe via Belarussian territory to compensate for losses in transit gas in Ukraine, a Gazprom official said on Tuesday.
'We have started shipping more gas via the Yamal-Europe [pipeline via Belarus] and the Blue Stream [pipeline to Turkey] to compensate for losses in Ukraine. We are still calling on Ukraine to optimize its gas use,' the official said."
The record cold spell gripping much of Europe has meant a concomitant rise in gas consumption, making for acrimonious accusations between Russia and Ukraine, recently locked in a price standoff. Georgia too has protested following a pipeline explosion in North Ossetia that crippled the country and drastically reduced its supplies of gas and electricity.
"Gazprom, which has been forced to dramatically boost supplies to Russian clients amid extreme cold, is blaming Ukraine for lower-than-expected deliveries to European customers as it says the state is burning gas above agreed levels," adds Reuters.
Source:
http://europipelines.blogspot.com/2006/01/gazprom-looks-to-belarus-to-save.html
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