Putin blinks -- but blames Ukraine for "stealing gas"
By Aussiegirl
Putin has backed down and turned on the gas again, but he's still insisting that Ukraine is "stealing" his gas, a charge Ukraine denies. This isn't over yet, and some compromise is going to have to be reached sooner or later.
Bloomberg.com: Europe
Russia restored natural-gas exports to normal, reversing a decision that cut supplies in parts of Europe by as much as 40 percent in a price dispute with Ukraine.
Customers in Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Italy and France said deliveries are running at normal levels today after Moscow-based gas monopoly OAO Gazprom resumed shipments. Russia supplies a quarter of Europe's gas, pumping about 75 percent of exports through Ukraine.
Natural gas futures in London, a benchmark for Europe, gained 5.8 percent on concern the standoff may lead to more disruptions. The dispute over the price of Ukrainian shipments is the culmination of a rift between President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko, who is seeking closer ties with Europe and moving away from Russia.
``Russia has done some serious damage to its otherwise good reputation for security of supply,'' William Ramsay, deputy executive director of the International Energy Agency, said today by mobile phone from France. ``Europe is going to have to take a hard look at their exposure and whether there's way to fix that.''
posted by Aussiegirl @ 8:00 PM
1 Comments:
Aussiegirl, you've been doing a great job staying on top of this gas kerfluffle...and your description of Putin and the Russian character are priceless and deadly accurate. By rights the G-8 should really return to being G-7, all legitimate first-world countries, and leave Russia, a third-world country, outside the door until they can behave themselves by honoring contracts, etc. But of course, with all their nukes that isn't going to happen. Still, from now on the other G's are going to keep hold of their wallets a little more closely.
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