Gazprom says Ukraine takes more gas; Ukraine says increase agreed

Moscow (Platts)--25Jan2006

Russian gas monopoly Gazprom Wednesday said Ukraine was still taking more
Russian gas than agreed, effectively reducing deliveries to Europe amid bitter
cold, while Ukraine insisted the increased consumption was agreed with Russia.

     "We are raising gas shipments towards Ukraine every day but volumes of
gas being not delivered to Europe are also growing every day," Gazprom CEO
Alexei Miller said Wednesday in televised comments.

     Ukraine's prime minister, Yuri Yekhanurov, said that Ukraine had
consumed more natural gas due to the low temperatures, but said that was
agreed with Russia. 

     "It is true that Ukraine has currently consumed more gas than usual,"
Yekhanurov told reporters in Kiev, Russia's Prime-Tass news agency reported.
But the increase in gas consumption was agreed, he said.

     Yekhanurov said that gas deliveries from Russia to Ukraine had grown to
568-mil cu m/day between Jan 20 and 24 from 502-mil cu m/day previously.

     Ukraine has currently consumed 427-mil cu m/day, almost 70-mil cu m/day
more than when the weather was around zero degrees Celsius, he said. "We are
grateful to our Russian colleagues for stable gas shipments," he added.

     Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government urged the country's industrial sector
to reduce consumption  to about 335- mil cu m/day starting Wednesday to secure
steady transit of Russian gas to Europe.

     Ukraine is a major shipper of Russian gas to Europe, responsible for
about 85% of Russian gas deliveries to European markets.

		--Nadia Rodova, nadia_rodova@ platts.com

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