A decision by Russia to cut gas exports to Poland without warning has rekindled fears about Europe’s reliance on Siberian gas at a time of increasing tension between Moscow and the west.
The Polish state energy group, PGNiG, said it was trying to find out why volumes had been slashed by up to 24% when it had been exporting gas itself to Ukraine to make up for Russian shortfalls there.
Its counterpart in Kiev, Ukrtransgaz, accused Kremlin-controlled Gazpromof penalising Poland and undermining onward gas supplies to Kiev.
“Today Russia started limiting gas supplies to Poland in order to disrupt the reverse (flows) from Poland that we receive … Poland stopped reverse supplies to Ukraine in the range of 4m cubic metres,” said Ihor Prokopiv, chief executive of Ukrtransgaz, according to the Russian news agency, RIA.
Mutual suspicions are higher than at any point since the collapse of the Soviet Union, following the conflict in Ukraine and western accusations that Russia has augmented the rebellion in the east with its own troops. Moscow denies the claim.
Nato last month estimated that more than 1,000 Russian soldiers were operating covertly in Ukraine, as part of a separatist effort to roll back advances by Kiev.
Earlier Ukraine’s president, Petro Poroshenko, said most Russian troops had now been withdrawn. “According to the latest information I have received from our intelligence, 70% of Russian troops have been moved back across the border,” he said. “This further strengthens our hope that the peace initiatives have good prospects.” Poroshenko said parts of east Ukraine would be given special status. But Ukraine would remain a sovereign and united entity, under a peace deal agreed in Minsk last Friday. But Ukrainians are anticipating a difficult winter ahead, reliant as they are on Russian gas to power their economy and heat their homes.
Nick Perry, a British energy consultant, said that it was not surprising that Gazprom’s actions had prompted a nervous response. “Since the 1990s, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has been investigating how Europe would survive if they lost some of its biggest sources of gas for six months. People have been looking at this for a long time”, Guardian informs.
