RUSSIA STOKES TENSIONS WITH THE WEST BY CUTTING GAS EXPORTS TO POLAND (STA BREAKING NEWS and ARCHIVES)

by STANews , Wednesday, September 10, 2014, 12:44

Gazprom has been accused of cutting gas supplies from its facilities to Poland by 24% without warning, after Poland had been supplying gas to Ukraine. Photograph: Bloomberg via Getty Images

A decision by Russia to cut its gas exports to Poland without warning rekindled fears last night 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% at a time when it had been exporting gas itself to Ukraine to make up for Russian shortfalls there.

Its counterpart in Kiev, Ukrtransgaz, accused Kremlin-controlled Gazprom of deliberately 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.

MORE...

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/10/poland-russia-gas-supply-cut-gazprom-tensions-ukraine