MOSCOW, June 5 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine may experience another shortage of natural gas this coming winter, a spokesman for Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said Monday.
Sergei Kupriyanov said Ukrainian natural gas company Naftogaz Ukrainy had not been pumping sufficient volumes of gas into its underground storage facilities.
"This may lead to problems in the winter in supplying the needs of the domestic market, as well as in fulfilling contracts on gas transit [to Europe], when gas will be in high demand both in Ukraine and Europe," Kupriyanov said.
Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said earlier that Ukraine had tapped more than 500 mln cu m of Russian natural gas destined for Europe in January this year, after Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine in a dispute over prices. Gazprom said it was forced to compensate for the gas that Europe did not receive.
