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Dec-28-2009Russia warns EU of oil cuts over Ukraine row(topic overview)
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The Slovak Economy Ministry said Russia has warned the European Union that Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic could experience oil supply cuts. A European Union source said oil stocks in those countries were adequate to withstand cuts. Europe, which receives the lion's share of its oil and gas needs from Russia, closely tracks Russian disputes with its neighbours after EU gas supplies were cut in the dead of winter in 2006 and 2009 due to disputes between Moscow and Kiev. Another key transit state, Belarus, cut Russian oil flows to Europe via the Druzhba pipeline in January 2007, also due to a pricing row, which further undermined the image of Russia, the world's top oil and gas producer, as a reliable energy supplier. [1] Ukraine will not halt gas transit from Russia to the European Union, said representative of the Ukrainian President for international energy security Bogdan Sokolovsky during the meeting with ambassadors of Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary. It was announced earlier, Russia has warned it can suspended gas supply via Ukraine to three European countries over money dispute, Interfax informed. [2]
PRAGUE -(Dow Jones)- Russia Monday warned Slovakia about a possible disruption in crude oil supply via the Druzhba pipeline that connects Siberian oil fields with the European Union to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, the Slovak government said. [3] MOSCOW, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Russia has warned the European Union of oil supply cuts because of a fresh row between Moscow and Kiev, the Slovak government said on Monday, hours after Russia played down worries about a new gas row with Ukraine. [1]
The demand for higher fees from Ukraine comes as the International Monetary Fund has rejected Kiev's request for a $2 billion loan to help the recession-strapped country meet financial obligations by year's end. A senior official of Ukraine's central bank said last week it had enough foreign currency reserves to manage its finances until the end of the year. Traders told Reuters on Friday Transneft had told them it would scrap the initial January program for Yuzhny consisting of 0.5 million tonnes, in a move that would effectively damage the Mediterranean oil market. Yuzhny remains the last Ukrainian port through which Russia sends transit crude to the West after it stopped exporting crude via another outlet, Odessa, earlier this year. Ukraine is also a major transit route for crude flowing to Eastern Europe via the Druzhba pipeline and Russia sent its warning to the European Union fearing a repeat of the January 2007 dispute with Belarus. [4] Zinkevich's confirmation of a problem came shortly after Slovakia announced that Russia had warned it could suspend oil supplies shipped through Ukraine to three European Union countries. He confirmed that Ukraine asked Russia to pay Kiev higher transit tariffs on the oil it ships to Europe and said the two sides had reached a "satisfactory compromise" on the fees. "negotiations are still under way" between Russia and Ukraine on a "guarantee" of the volume of oil -- subject to the transit fees for Kiev -- that Russia would pump through the pipeline network in Ukraine, he said. [5] Slovakia said Monday that Russia had warned it might halt oil supplies through Ukraine to three European Union countries over a price dispute. [6]
Bratislava - Russia has warned of a possible halt in oil supplies to three European Union members via Ukraine, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said Monday. [7]
Ukraine wants to rewrite the gas deal gas deal signed with Russia under which it transits gas to the European Union, said spokesperson of the Ukrainian National Oil operator Ukrtransnaft for AFP. [8] KIEV, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Ukraine has no reason to cut Russian oil flows to Europe and Moscow's warning to the European Union that such a halt could take place is aimed at discrediting Kiev, a top Ukrainian official said on Monday. [9] The Slovak government said it had received the warning via the European Union, which said it had been informed of the possible cut by Moscow. [10] The Slovak Economy Ministry said it had received the warning in a letter from the European Union's executive Commission which said the Russian side had had informed Brussels of the possible supply cut. [11]
Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko notified the European Union of the possible stoppage, the Slovak government said in a statement today, citing an official letter it received from the European Commission, the EU's executive body. [12]
"The Slovak government has been informed by a letter from the Russian ministry of energy in compliance with the agreed system of early warnings that there may be possible oil supply disruptions to the three EU countries due to unresolved issues between the Russian Federation and Ukraine concerning crude oil transit," the statement read. [3] Ukraine will hold a presidential election in January and analysts have said that if a relatively pro-Russian leader is elected, Moscow is likely to take a more accommodating stance in future energy negotiations. The head of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom ( GAZP.MM ), Alexei Miller, said he expected Ukraine to pay its December gas bill in full and that he saw no repeat of gas rows -- backtracking from remarks made last week. He spoke only a few hours before the head of another Russian monopoly -- oil pipeline company Transneft ( TRNF_p.MM ) -- accused Ukrainian politicians of setting new "unacceptable" terms for oil transit via the Black Sea port of Yuzhny. [1] Ukraine will hold presidential elections in January and analysts have said if a relatively pro-Russian leader is elected Moscow is likely to take a more accommodating stance in future energy negotiations. Oil firms will have to divert crude meant for Yuzhny to other destinations - such as Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiisk or Primorsk on the Baltic. [13]
The two latter states also have no guarantees of smooth supplies after the New Year as Moscow and Minsk struggle to agree on volumes of duty-free Russian oil for Belarus. Russia's top energy official Igor Sechin said on Monday he hoped the deal with Belarus would be signed on December 30-31. "If no deal is reached then we will have to apply full fees from January 1," he told reporters. In 2007, Minsk suspended supplies along Druzhba after failing to clinch a deal on crude supplies for its domestic plants and agreeing on fees. [4] Russia had informed the EU that Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary could be affected by disruptions in oil supplies in the New Year, Fico told a news conference in Bratislava. [7] Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Russia warned it may cut off oil supplies to Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic because of a dispute with Ukraine over transit of the commodity, the Slovak government said. [12] BRATISLAVA, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Russia has warned a dispute between it and Ukraine could cause it to cut oil deliveries to Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, the Slovak government said on Monday. [11]
Russia has warned of possible disruption of oil shipments to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. He said Ukrainian state energy company Naftogaz seeks higher transit tariffs that reflect inflation and rising maintenance costs. [14]
According to the''Slovak government, the cabinet of Russia's Vladimir Putin warned the''EU that it may be forced to disrupt supplies of crude oil to three eastern countries:''Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. [15]
The Druzhba pipeline supplies Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic via Ukraine with more than 300,000 barrels per day of crude while another spur goes via Belarus to Germany and Poland shipping some 800,000 bpd. [1] 'Even if the countries do not sign an agreement by the end of the year there will be no problems with gas transit to Slovakia, Hungary and Czech Republic. [2] Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic", Slovakia's government said, quoting a letter from the European Commission. [10] Energy deliveries to Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic would be disrupted by the cut, it added. [10] The latest possible oil disruption, which is likely caused by a dispute over transit-fee payments between Moscow and Kiev, resembles a cut in oil supplies experienced by Slovakia and the Czech Republic in the summer of 2008. [3]
Russia has warned that a price dispute with Ukraine could cause it to cut oil deliveries to three EU countries, Slovakia has said. [10] Slovakia announced several hours ago Russia has warned it can suspended gas supply via Ukraine to three European countries over money dispute. [8]
In January 2009, a price dispute with Ukraine prompted Russia to halt gas supplies to Europe for several days, leaving some countries without heating during severe winter weather. [7] Despite occasional disputes, over the past three years Russia has not stopped gas supplies to Ukraine and Europe. [16]
The infection rate from swine flu has decreased in the majority of countries in Western and Eastern Europe with the exception of France, where the situation remains grave due to the general growth in the number of flu-like cases. The new virus remains active in Russia but experts expect it to pass its activity peak before long. This year the already traditional gas war between Russia and Ukraine lasted a record time. [16] In the outgoing year the United States and Russia tried to prove to each other and the rest of the world that the legacy of the Cold War has been relegated to the past. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed concluding a new treaty on European security to the countries of NATO, the EU, CSTO, CIS, and OSCE. Russia suggests creating such a mechanism of maintaining peace in Europe, which would prevent its monopolistic use by any state or international organization. The United States has adjusted its plans for deploying a missile defense system near Russia's borders in Eastern Europe, which drew serious criticism from Russia. It has not fully renounced, but merely suspended its plans to deploy elements of a ground-based missile defense system in Europe until 2015. [16]
NATO's relations with Russia, which deteriorated after Russia defended South Ossetia from Georgian aggression, have begun to improve. In early November Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president, signed the Treaty of Lisbon, thereby completing its ratification by European Union (EU) countries. [16] "Ukraine wants to amend it." Zinkevich indicated that the dispute centred on volumes of oil Russia would guarantee to pump through Ukraine to clients downstream in the European Union and said negotiations were continuing on this matter. [5]
'The present contract was signed in 2004,' spokesperson Sergey Tsinkevich announced. In his words the dispute with Moscow turns on the amount of the oil, Russia will guarantee to transport via Ukraine as the negotiations on the issue continues. [8] "The amount of oil that Russia currently ships via Ukraine at present leaves something to be desired," Zinkevich said. He said Russia wanted to portray Ukraine as the guilty party in the current dispute, but added: "I do not see Ukraine's guilt." [5]
Hungary's Energy Ministry confirmed Monday that it had been informed by the EU Commission of Russia's warning there could be a bottleneck in oil deliveries via Ukraine from January 1. [7]
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Russia's pipeline monopoly on Monday blamed Ukrainian politicians for setting new "unacceptable" terms for oil transit via the port of Yuzhny, saying it will cut supplies if no quick deal is reached. [13] Transneft President Nikolai Tokarev told Reuters Ukraine had asked Russia to pay more for transit and raised additional conditions concerning minimal volume guarantees, adding that oil supplies would be cut if no deal was quickly reached. [1]
Zinkevich predicted that the latest energy dispute between the two ex-Soviet giants would be quickly resolved, but said an interruption to Russian oil supplies transiting Ukraine could not be ruled out. "It is not Ukraine that delivers the oil but Russia," he said. [5] KIEV, Ukraine - A Ukrainian energy official says his country's dispute with Russia over shipment tariffs will not affect the transit of Russian to Eastern Europe. [14] KIEV, Dec 28 (Reuters) - A dispute over the terms of Russia's contract with Ukraine to transit oil to Europe will be solved within two days, a Kiev-based source close to the talks said on Monday. [17]
KIEV — Ukraine wants to modify the current contract under which its transits Russian oil shipments to the EU, a spokesman for Ukraine's state oil pipeline operator Ukrtransnafta told AFP Monday. [5] Nikolai Tokarev, head of Russian pipeline company Transneft, was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying Ukraine had demanded higher payments for the transit of Russian oil. [10]
"The reason is allegedly unresolved problems between the Russian Federation and Ukraine concerning oil transit," the government said. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has called an emergency meeting of his country's security cabinet, it added. [6] Unresolved oil transit issues between Russia and Ukraine, including pricing, are behind the looming disruptions. The three countries affected get their oil from Russia via the Drushba (friendship) pipeline. [7]
Russia warned Europe of oil supply cuts because of a fresh row between Moscow and Kiev over new terms that Russia has called unacceptable. [17] Moscow said that deal should prevent disruption - last January, many countries in Europe were left short of gas due to a payment dispute between Moscow and Kiev. [10] Europe is worried that there might be a repetition due to the election campaign in Ukraine, which will end in mid-January. The EU is not going to resolve Kiev's problems: this year it did not grant Ukraine a loan to help ensure its ability to pump gas to Europe. [16] Russia provides about a quarter of the gas consumed in the EU and 80% of that is piped through Ukraine. [10]
Quoting a letter from the European Commission -- the 27-nation EU's executive arm -- the government said Russia had announced "the possibility of suspending oil supplies to. [6] On November 19, the EU leaders unanimously elected Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as EU president, and Catherine Ashton, the current European commissioner for trade from Britain as the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security. A number of politicians believe the EU's reforms will help improve its relations with Russia. [16] The Treaty provides for a number of EU institutional reforms and a new procedure for the formation of the European Commission from 2014. It has introduced the positions of EU president and foreign minister. [16]
The Sri Lankan population rejoiced at the victory of the government forces. Afghan President Hamid Karzai won presidential elections for a second term in office on August 20, but his victory was marred by fraud. A second round was announced in November, but it did not take place because Karzai's main rival, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from the elections because of the fear of further destabilization in the country. [16]
Moscow agreed to ease the terms under which it supplies gas to Ukraine last month after talks between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Yulia Tymoshenko. [10] Talks between Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko in Yalta in November convinced Russian politicians that there would be no new gas war. [16]
Transit resumed on January 20 after the Russian and Ukrainian prime ministers reached agreement and Gazprom and Naftogaz signed ten-year contracts. [16]
If the latest Russian-Ukrainian spat over transit fees indeed halts crude-oil shipments to Slovakia, the Bratislava government''may consider refusing to fill''the empty''tanks of Russian and Ukrainian aircraft parked''at the Poprad airport. [15]
One cargo was already sold to Morgan Stanley for Jan 8-12 delivery and rerouting it to another port will cause big logistical problems, traders said. Yuzhny remains the last Ukrainian port through which Russia sends transit crude to the West after it stopped exporting crude via another outlet -- Odessa -- earlier this year. [13] The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between Russia and the United States expired on December 5. For 15 years it had secured steady reduction of their nuclear potentials. During the past year both sides have failed to agree on the mechanisms of verification for the new treaty, which is expected to be signed in January. This year North Korea shocked the world twice. [16] Slovak's''otherwise sleepy airport in the northern city of Poprad has once again seen''an annual surge in air traffic due to charter flights from Russia and Ukraine. The mostly Russian-speaking revellers love the Slovak mountains, where they come''to relax during the New Year's holiday, which can last''until nealry mid-January. [15] Thousands of Ukrainian and Russian tourists are headed to the Slovak and Czech mountain resorts to celebrate New Year. [15]
The (negotiation) process is continuing and I hope we will solve it before the New Year. If they insist on their terms, we will also review the prospects of supplies," he said. Asked about the cause of the dispute, Tokarev said: "These are purely political issues there (in Ukraine)." [4]
Once again, a dispute over transit fees between Moscow and Kiev is behind the threat. Last January, the fee dispute''prompted''Russia''to halt''natural-gas shipments to the EU amid one of the coldest winters this decade. [15] "From the EU point of view, the early warning systems have worked," said a EU source, referring to a recent deal under which Russia has to warn the continent about potential supply problems. [1]
Slovakia is the only unlucky party here. It's dependent on Russia for more than 90% of its domestic crude oil, and the country is bereft of an alternative to the Druzba oil pipeline, which''connects the Siberian oil fields''and Europe. [15] Luckily, unlike natural gas, which must be delivered''almost entirely via high-pressure pipelines, crude oil can be transported aboard trains. [15]
Some Eastern European countries, namely the Czech Republic and Hungary, have also built westbound and southbound crude-oil pipelines capable of transporting non-Russian oil from Adriatic and Mediterranean ports to which tankers ship oil from Persian Gulf and Africa. [15] Many European countries, primarily in Eastern Europe, encountered difficulties with gas supplies for household and industrial customers. [16]
Gazprom stopped supplying Ukraine with fuel on January 1 for lack of a contract and fully discontinued gas deliveries to Europe on January 7 after Ukraine shut down transit gas pipelines. [16] Ukraine will not halt the transit,' said representative of the Ukrainian President for international energy security. [2] "Within Ukraine there are no threats, no risks," said Bohdan Sokolovsky, the energy envoy of President Viktor Yushchenko. "This is political speculation from the Russian side and it is aimed at somehow discrediting Ukraine as a transit country," Sokolovsky told Reuters. [9]
As in previous winters, the governments in Kiev and Moscow are giving central Europeans the same undesired present: a threat of energy-supply cuts. [15]
SOURCES
1. WRAPUP 1-Russia warns EU of oil cuts over Ukraine row | Reuters
2. FOCUS Information Agency
3. Slovakia: Warned By Russia On Possible Oil Supply Disruption
4. Russia warns EU of oil cuts over Ukraine row | Reuters
5. AFP: Ukraine wants to change Russia oil transit deal
6. Russia warns of oil supply halt: Slovakia
7. Russia warns of possible halt in oil supplies to Europe (Roundup) - Monsters and Critics
8. FOCUS Information Agency
9. Ukraine says no reason to halt Russian oil flows | Markets | Reuters
10. BBC News - Russia-Ukraine dispute 'could lead to EU oil cuts'
11. RPT-Russia may cut Slovak, Czech, Hungary oil delivery | Markets | Reuters
12. Russia Warns of Oil Cut-Off to Europe Over Dispute With Ukraine - BusinessWeek
13. UPDATE 1-Russia blames Ukraine politicians for oil row | Reuters
14. Ukraine ensures transit of Russian oil to Europe - CNBC
15. Russian Fuel-Supply Cuts to Eastern Europe Start Again - New Europe - WSJ
16. RIA Novosti'''s choice: ten major international events of 2009 | Top Russian news and analysis online | 'RIA Novosti' newswire
17. Russia-Ukraine oil row to be solved in days-source | Markets | Reuters
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