Gazprom raises concerns over Ukraine

MOSCOW, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- While Ukraine met its gas payments to secure supplies through December, a gas crisis could emerge in the region for 2010, said top officials at Gazprom.

Gazprom chief Alexei Miller told a delegation of foreign academics in Moscow that Ukraine appeared able to handle its gas obligations through the winter heating season.

His comments echo statements from Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who said her country would stop pumping gas into its underground storage facilities as it now has enough gas to supply Ukraine for the fall and winter and ensure the transit of gas to Europe.

Russian gas giant Gazprom cut gas supplies to Ukraine briefly in January in the wake of a bitter row over gas contracts and disputes. A contract settling that dispute places strict requirements on Kiev in terms of gas volumes and purchases.

That row, however, created a gas crisis in the region as 80 percent of all Russian gas bound for Europe travels through Ukraine.

International lenders, meanwhile, surfaced recently with financial aid packages for Kiev to help avert a new gas crisis. Miller, however, said it was uncertain whether Kiev had the finances needed to continue its progress into 2010, the BBC reports.

"I hope there will be no new catastrophe," he said.

Kiev made several moves to amend its gas relationship with Gazprom, though Miller said the Kremlin ordered him to refuse any such effort.