Germany sees no immediate gas shortages

BERLIN, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- There was no reason to worry about gas shortages in Germany after Russia cut off supplies to Ukraine on Sunday in a price dispute, the German government said on Monday.

"The 17 million German households for the moment have no cause for concern. They will not be affected by what has happened so far," said Economy Minister Michael Glos.

Germany has sufficient gas in storage and has contracts with many other gas-supplying countries, Glos said, adding that the country could also fall back on using coal and nuclear energy for heating.

But the German government urged Moscow and Kiev to resolve their dispute over natural gas deliveries as soon as possible and without disrupting Europe's gas supply.

"We expect both Russia and Ukraine to fulfil their obligations in terms of delivering and transporting gas in full," deputy government spokesman Thomas Steg said on Monday.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had talked to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and was planning to talk to his Austrian counterpart Ursula Plassnik in an effort to find a common European position over the gas dispute, he added.

Eighty-four percent of Germany's gas needs are met by imports, with 35 percent coming from Russia.

But Germany also has contracts with several other gas suppliers, including Norway, and has sufficient gas stocks to last 75 days.

Russia's gas giant Gazprom cut off gas supplies to Ukraine on Sunday after Kiev rejected Moscow's demand for a sharp rise in gas prices in 2006.

On Monday, it accused Ukraine of diverting about 25 million U.S. dollars worth of Russian gas intended for customers in other European countries.

Despite some European countries' complains of a fall of pressure in their pipelines since the Gazprom cut, the biggest importer in Germany, EON Ruhrgas, said on Sunday it had not yet detected any immediate problems.

"Even if the conflict were to worsen, there will no shortages affecting households and small consumers," EON Ruhrgas, which owns a 6.5 percent-stake in Gazprom, said in a statement.

But it added: "If the restrictions were to go beyond a certain level, and the winter turns out to be particularly severe, our ability to compensate for the disruptions could reach their limits."