VOSKRESENSK, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - The chief of Russia's energy giant Gazprom pledged uninterrupted natural gas supplies to Europe on Friday, saying no more New Year conflicts are expected.
"I hope we will see the New Year in at home, we have sufficient grounds to expect that. Contracts have been signed and are in effect, and it only depends on our partners to fulfill agreements," Alexei Miller told reporters.
Gazprom briefly cut off supplies to Ukraine on January 1, 2009 amid a bitter gas pricing and debt dispute, suspending transits to the European Union seven days later in the absence of a new contract with the ex-Soviet neighbor.
The conflict was resolved on January 19, when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Yulia Tymoshenko, agreed deals on deliveries to and gas transit through Ukraine for 2009. Ukraine transits around 80% of Russia's Europe-bound gas.
The two countries have also agreed to raise the gas price to European levels, cancelling a 20% discount for Ukraine, and the transit fee for Russia in 2010.
Ukraine has since paid for gas supplies in time. In October, however, a minor dispute arose on the amount of gas Ukraine is to import from Russia. Kiev has been buying less gas due to its economic slowdown this year and plans to import less in 2010.
Gazprom also cut off supplies to Ukraine on January 1, 2006 for several days until a tentative agreement was reached, accusing Kiev of failure to pay and siphoning gas from transits intended for Europe. European consumers were affected.
