Polish gas supplies down

WARSAW, Poland, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The state-run Polish petroleum and gas mining company said gas supplies fell by 11 percent after Russia terminated gas deliveries to Ukraine.

Russia cut off the supply of natural gas to Ukraine over an ongoing row over debt payments. Russia called on Ukraine to pay $2 billion for November and December gas deliveries or face 2009 with no contract for gas supplies.

Ukraine hosts 80 percent of all Russian natural gas bound for Europe. A similar row in 2006 briefly disrupted European gas supplies.

Russian gas giant Gazprom said its Ukrainian counterpart, Naftogaz, would have to pay full market rates for gas in 2009 as part of the debt negotiation. Poland pays Russia for its gas based on a price linked to oil, and Moscow has given assurance to European customers that supplies were consistent.

Ukraine, however, warned Europe it could face supply disruptions in as little as 10 days, the Polish media site Thenews.pl said.

"There could be very serious technical problems," warned Bogdan Sokolovsky, the top energy adviser to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.