Gazprom Mulls 25% Gas Supply Cut

According to Interfax, Gazprom could cut gas supplies by 25% on March 3, if Ukraine fails to ratify agreements based on results of the Yushchenko-Putin negotiations held on Feb. 12. Gazprom’s spokesman, Sergey Kupriyanov, said that Ukraine continues consuming Russian gas without legal backing, “as of now, the volume of illegally gas consumed in Ukraine has reached 1.9 bcm”. Meanwhile, the presidential secretariat said the main issue is slow repayment of the debt. The secretariat also blamed the government for its inability to implement Yushchenko-Putin agreements. In turn, Naftogaz of Ukraine issued an official statement that it plans to clear another USD 233 mln of the outstanding amount by March 1, in addition to USD 282 mln paid over Feb. 14-19 (earlier, a representative of Ukrgaz-Energo said that Naftogaz’s debt exceeded USD 1.5 bln). Vladimir Nesterenko: It is getting warmer in Ukraine and a possible cut in gas supplies is not as scary as it was in mid-February. More importantly, development of gas issue indicates that Yushchenko is outplaying Tymoshenko on the Russian front by using her weapons against herself. If he succeeds, the “gas failure” will become perhaps the most valuable piece in his growing collection against her. Moreover, Tymoshenko’s image in Russia would suffer as well, which casts more doubt on her prospects of possible collusion with the pro-Russian opposition Party of Regions.