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AFP - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned EU nations on Monday that Russia would be carefully monitoring an unprecedented anti-trust probe launched against its powerful natural gas monopoly Gazprom. The cautionary comments marked Putin's first response to a high-stakes dispute that threatens to dominate Russian-EU relations on his expected return to the Kremlin after a 2000-2008 presidency in March. Gazprom had previously confirmed the offices of its trading partners and subsidiaries being searched -- and documents seized -- in the EU's most forceful response to a growing European outcry over alleged price collusion. But Russia's richest and most strategic company...

AFP - Three EU energy majors on Friday agreed to take a 50-percent stake in a Black Sea natural gas link Russia is developing for Europe's growing market in competition to one backed by the United States. The partners said Italy's ENI will get a 20-percent stake in South Stream's offshore operator while Germany's Wintershall and the French firm EDF will each keep 15 percent. The remaining 50-percent share will belong to Gazprom -- the Russian energy monopoly and world's largest gas producer that is developing routes to bypass nations such as Ukraine with which it suffers price disputes. "The...

President Dmitry Medvedev and Chancellor Angela Merkel led the Russian-German Interstate Consultations on July 19-20 in Hannover. This annual event, with the collective participation of Russian and German government ministers and industry leaders, punctuates the gradual integration in key economic sectors of the two countries. Nord Stream pipeline Germany’s recent political decision to phase out nuclear energy delighted the Russian side at this summit. Medvedev’s delegation offered to supplement gas deliveries massively within the next decade and beyond, so as to replace the lost nuclear power at least in part with Russian gas in Germany’s energy mix. In return for...

Temperatures were approaching freezing last November when a stern Vladimir Putin delivered a trademark tirade at a business forum in Berlin's venerably posh Hotel Adlon, steps from the Brandenburg Gate. Captains of industry sat stony faced as the Russian prime minister, reminding them Germany was phasing out nuclear power, said they had nowhere to turn but Russia, which was already supplying 40 percent of the country's demand for natural gas from its vast deposits. Otherwise, "how will you heat your houses?" he mocked. "Even for firewood, you'd have to go to Siberia." The immediate object of Putin's ire was a...

By June 2011, the Arab revolutions had evolved into a series of disconnected but increasingly violent civil wars—particularly in Libya and Syria. The international community has certainly not been spared the effects of these wars. As a long-time patron—if not an ally—of these states, Russia views these trends with mounting anxiety. These revolutions and civil wars pose three serious challenges or even threats to Russia. FEAR OF DOMESTIC UNREST Domestically, the revolutions could inspire citizens to take autonomous political action against the regime. Alternatively, they could further inflame the insurgency in the North Caucasus among a largely Muslim population to...

Viktor Vekselberg, the Russian billionaire, has agreed to merge his power assets into the power-generation holding of Gazprom to create a state-controlled national electricity champion that will control a quarter of the country’s electricity market. Analysts said the merger announced on Thursday risked overturning the country’s hard-won privatisation of the sector, one of the few successful market reforms of the past decade, with state control of the sector set to increase from 50 per cent to 70 per cent as a result of the deal. “After the merger, the state will simply dominate the market,” said Derek Weaving, electricity sector...

Russia's energy giant Gazprom is interested in developing gas deposits in Pakistan, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari said on Thursday after talks on bilateral business cooperation. "The sides supported the interest of Russian business circles in implementing economic, infrastructural and banking projects jointly with the Pakistani government and businesses," the two leaders said in a statement. In particular, Russian state-owned mining and metallurgical facility construction company Tyazhpromexport is prepared to modernize a metals plant in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city while Russia's largest power trader Inter RAO UES is ready to build power plants in...

Russia’s ambassador to Moldova, Valery Kuzmin, insinuated via Chisinau media on February 1 that Moscow can grant Moldova a price discount on Russian gas, as it granted one to Ukraine, in return for military basing rights. Kuzmin said: “Moldovan authorities must execute the conditions of the agreement recently signed with Gazprom…One should not fully exclude politics from Russia’s relations with other countries. The political dimension can be turned into an economic equivalent. Thus in Ukraine, for example, there was provided a compensation mechanism [for gas] in the lease agreement for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet base. Due to that mutually advantageous...

Dmitri Medvedev on Wednesday sealed a $20bn deal for Russia to build Turkey’s first nuclear power plant, furthering Moscow’s ambition of carving out a bigger role in the renascent international market for nuclear energy. Energy cooperation is the core of a rapidly developing partnership between Moscow and Ankara, former cold war rivals who say bilateral trade could reach $100bn in the next five years – half the value of Russia’s trade now with the entire European Union. “Turkey and Russia are strategic partners, not just in words but in reality,” the Russian president told reporters on Wednesday during a trip...

JERUSALEM, April 13 (Reuters) - Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) may join the exploration race for a new natural gas windfall off the coast of Israel, Israeli media reported on Tuesday. Financial daily Globes on its Web site reported Gazprom, together with Israel's Modiin Energy (MDINp.TA: Quote, Profile, Research), the IDB Group (IDBH.TA: Quote, Profile, Research) and Israel Land Development (ILDC.TA: Quote, Profile, Research), was considering vying for a new tender for exploratory offshore drilling. Officials at both Israel's Infrastructure Ministry and Modiin Energy declined to comment on the report. Gazprom was not available for immediate reaction. U.S. group...

Dash for Poland’s gas could end Russian stranglehold Robin Pagnamenta, Energy Editor American technology to produce shale gas is unleashing a scramble for drilling rights in Poland, where experts believe vast reserves of unconventional gas exist that could help to weaken Russia’s grip on Europe’s energy supplies. ConocoPhillips is poised to launch Poland’s first shale gas drilling programme next month near Gdansk on the Baltic coast. Two other American oil groups — Exxon-Mobil and Marathon — and Talisman Energy, of Canada, are set to follow. The technology has transformed America’s energy industry and driven gas prices to their lowest level...

WARSAW, Poland — History suggests that when Russia and Germany announce a deal that is slightly too sweet, Poland has reason to be wary. Which is why the Polish foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, acidly dubbed a plan to build an underwater natural gas pipeline from Russia’s Siberian gas fields to Germany’s Baltic coast “the Molotov-Ribbentrop pipeline,” a reference to the pact between the Nazis and the Soviets to carve up Poland on the eve of World War II. The Russians and Germans hail the $11 billion project as “a new benchmark for cooperation between the European Union and Russia.” The...

Rombouillet, France- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin won another victory for his aggressive energy diplomacy strategy Friday, signing a deal bringing French investment to a pipeline project. In a successful trip that worried Russia's nervous neighbours, Putin also secured French investment to save the struggling Lada car maker and a promise that France will consider selling Moscow a huge amphibious assault ship. "We have embarked upon complete cooperation with Russia," French Prime Minister Francois Fillon declared, as he and Putin addressed reporters after talks outside Paris with ministers and energy executives. Georgia and the Baltic states have expressed concern over...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said Ukraine might be having problems paying for gas, raising new concerns over European supplies. Mr Putin said the European Union had not yet given Ukraine the money it had promised to help provide stable supplies of Russian gas to Europe. He also blamed Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko for blocking payment. In January, many countries were left short of gas because of a payment dispute between Moscow and Kiev. 'Blocking funds' "It appears we are again having problems with payments for our energy supplies, which is extremely regrettable. The EU has still not provided...

BEIJING, October 14 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia does not object to selling energy resources to China for roubles, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said. “We discussed the possibility of using our national currency in bilateral settlements between Russia and China, and our energy companies raised this issue, even Gazprom. In principle, we do not object to considering the possibility of selling our energy resources for roubles,” Putin told journalists after the end of his official visit to China on Wednesday. “But this mean that our Chinese partners should have those roubles … We are even ready to buy something for yuan, but...

It's really amazing how soon the Obama administration's chickens are coming home to roost. They made a big deal out of finding a "reset" button for U.S.-Russia relations. They wanted to reject what they saw as George W. Bush's truculence over the Russian invasion of Georgia last summer. So they went out of their way to send a message to Russia that they wanted a new beginning in their relations with Moscow. Well, they've gotten it. London's prestigious Financial Times reports that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has sent a tough "ultimatum" to Ukraine's leadership. Medvedev sent his blunt warning in...

MOSCOW -- Undeterred by the global slowdown, Russia's state-run energy leviathan Gazprom has pushed ahead with an expansion masterplan of huge ambition that has raised questions over its true motives. Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller has warned Europe — keen to break Russia's stronghold on gas supplies — against turning the issue of energy diversification into a “fetish.” But analysts say it is the Russian gas giant's own actions that are now bordering on the abnormal, with deals often being motivated by factors like politics or pride rather than economic sense. “Gazprom has acquired the function of the foreign energy...

MOSCOW, July 1 (Reuters) - Russia has offered Turkey a role in its South Stream gas pipeline to Europe, Russian news agencies reported on Wedneseday, marking another Russian attempt to undermine the European Union's rival Nabucco project. Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, Russia's top energy official, told Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz that Turkey is welcome to participate in the South Stream project, which aims to transport Russian gas under the Black Sea through Eastern Europe to Austria and Italy. "We hope that the Turkish side will look at our offer and that we will cooperate further so that our...

THIS VERY STRANGE REPORT WAS PUBLISHED BY KGB CONTROLLED RUSSIAN SOURCE. IT IS DISTURBING TO THE CORE McCain’s running mate lays into Russia 05 September, 2008, 08:26 Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has wasted no time in casting a cloud over Russia. In her keynote speech to the party convention in Minnesota, the Alaskan Governor accused Moscow of using energy as a weapon in its disagreements with the West. PALIN: “With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus, and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves...

Gazprom, the energy company, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Dow Chemical Company to expand trading in carbon dioxide emission credits intended to slow climate change, a business that is a growing sideline for the Russian company. Best known for its sales of natural gas and crude oil, which produce heat-trapping carbon dioxide, Gazprom is an emerging player in the market for credits that companies can buy or trade to comply with national or international rules on greenhouse gas emissions. Under the memorandum, Gazprom and Dow agreed to look at opportunities where Dow technologies could be used to...

Russia is trying to earmark a planned $10bn credit to the International Monetary Fund to help Ukraine pay for gas supplies, Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, said on Friday. “We are convinced that the resources made available by Russia must be used first and foremost to help our neighbours in the Commonwealth of Independent States, including a solution to the problem that Ukraine has confronted in the sphere of energy,” said Mr Putin in remarks posted on the prime ministerial website. He said he had received a “constructive first reaction” from Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the IMF’s managing director, whom he had...

Gazprom, the Russian state-controlled gas monopoly, is eyeing the US market as it seeks to build a substantial position in the global liquefied natural gas business after opening its first LNG plant in February. The company, already the world’s biggest exporter of pipeline gas, is now aiming for “participation in the LNG world on a scale commensurate with its resource base”, Frederic Barnaud, the president and managing director of the company’s LNG trading unit, Gazprom Global LNG, told the Gastech conference in Abu Dhabi. Gazprom sees its nascent LNG business as a strategic opportunity to diversify its export potential by...

Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom is keen to participate in a pipeline to carry Iranian gas to Pakistan, the Kommersant daily reported on Wednesday, citing company and government officials. "We are ready to join the project as soon as we receive an offer," Russia's deputy energy minister Anatoly Yankovsky told the daily. The paper quoted another top government official as saying Moscow sees the pipeline as a means to divert Iranian gas from competing with Russian exports on the European market. "This project is advantageous to Moscow since its realisation would carry Iranian gas toward South Asian markets so that...

ANKARA - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says Turkey and Russia have agreed to extend a contract on natural gas supplies. The current agreement is scheduled to end in 2012. A proposed new pipeline, Blue Stream 2 is expected to meet TurkeyÂ’s growing need for natural gas The prime ministers of Turkey and Russia agreed over the weekend to strengthen the countriesÂ’ energy cooperation and begin negotiations over the Blue Stream 2 natural-gas pipeline project. The announcement came Saturday at a televised joint press conference held by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in the...

Budapest - Hungary's largest gas distribution company Emfesz has been sold to Swiss-based firm RosGas AG, Emfesz spokesman Igor Gallyas said Thursday, confirming a report in the Russian newspaper Vedomosti. The news has prompted speculation that the Russian energy giant Gazprom, which is believed to be behind RosGas, is looking to strengthen its hold over the Hungarian, and by extension, the EU market. Gallyas, speaking to the Hungarian news agency MTI, neither confirmed nor denied the report by Vedomosti that RosGas is part of Gazprom's family of subsidiaries. However, in a statement posted on its website on April 28, Emfesz...

An energy summit in Sofia over the week-end fell short of specifically backing Nabucco, Europe's planned new gas pipeline, or South Stream, its Russian rival, with the US administration adopting a conciliatory stance towards Russia. In a visible shift in tone towards Moscow, Barack Obama's newly appointed energy envoy, Richard Morningstar, said the Nabucco pipeline was no panacea for solving Europe's energy security problems. "Pipelines are just part of the puzzle. Nabucco is not the Holy Grail that will solve the problem," Mr Morningstar said. The EU-backed, €7.9 billion project to pump gas from the Caspian region via Turkey, Bulgaria,...

MOSCOW, April 27 (Reuters) - Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev got a frosty reception from Russia's leaders on Monday and expressed no clear hopes that a gas pipeline deal with Moscow would be reached during his two-day official visit. Not only did President Dmitry Medvedev unexpectedly postpone his meeting with Stanishev with no official explanation, but Prime Minister Vladimir Putin took a jab at Bulgaria during his welcome speech that evoked load groans from the crowd. .... Speaking at a welcome event alongside Stanishev, Putin took an apparent jab at Bulgaria's meagre investments in Russia. "If Russia's investments (into Bulgaria)...

Despite becoming the first country to sign up for the South Stream project amid the fanfare of then Russian president Vladimir Putin's visit to Sofia in January 2008, Bulgaria's commitment to the Russian-Italian project has shown cracks as of late. After Gazprom has tried to amend the terms to have part of Bulgaria's existing gas network become part of the project, which authorities in Sofia oppose, it emerged that the two sides were yet to settle the size of the transit fees Bulgaria was due to receive. "There are attempts to sidestep the Bulgarian interests. If Bulgaria wins nothing from...

Turkmenistan blamed Russia's state natural gas monopoly Friday for a pipeline blast that shut off shipments to Russia — an unusual show of tension that could help Western efforts to buy Turkmen gas directly. Turkmenistan's Foreign Ministry said in a flurry of statements that Russia's Gazprom decided on short notice to reduce the amount of gas it takes from Turkmenistan. Gazprom's export division gave only one day's warning, which wasn't sufficient time for Turkmenistan to reduce its flow into the pipeline network, the ministry said. The blast, which occurred late Wednesday, "was caused by a gross unilateral violation by Gazpromexport...

The world's largest natural gas company, Russia's Gazprom, has after years of attempts finally gotten a foothold in the U.S., the world's biggest gas market. A supply agreement, part of a multipart contract reached with Royal Dutch Shell, was announced late Wednesday. The contract, signed in Moscow by Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and his Shell counterpart Jeroen Van der Veer, guarantees the two companies will deliver 1 million tons of Russian liquefied natural gas annually until 2028. Under the arrangement, Gazprom gets access to a Shell terminal in Baja California, Mexico, that will turn Russian liquefied gas into gas that...

Mol, the Hungarian energy group, yesterday accused OMV, its Austrian rival, of acting as a "front" for Russian interests in a deal involving a 21 per cent stake in Mol. Zsolt Hernadi, Mol's chairman, made the claim before a Hungarian parliamentary committee looking into the €1.4bn (£1.3bn) sale of the stake, which has raised a political storm in Budapest and prompted questions about the impact on Hungary's and the European Union's energy security. OMV, which acquired the Mol stake in an unsuccessful takeover bid two years ago, sold the stock this week to Surgutneftegaz, a Russian oil group with close...

On March 23, 2009 the Moscow City Court ruled that Semion Mogilevich, also known as Sergiy Shneider, will remain in prison until May 23 while investigators continue to examine his case. (Kommersant Daily, March 24). This is the third extension of his detention the court has ordered since Mogilevich was arrested on January 23, 2008 and charged with abetting in a tax evasion scheme. What makes this case highly sensitive is that Mogilevich has been suspected of having close links to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the opaque gas trade between Gazprom and Ukraine and RosUkrEnergo. Mogilevich is a...

Russia seems intent on weakening Western institutions and its relations with NATO will likely be more strained in the coming years than at any time since the Cold War ended, NATO's top commander said on Tuesday. U.S. Army General John Craddock said Russia's military action in Georgia last year overturned a basic assumption made by NATO after the fall of the Soviet Union -- that no countries were under threat of invasion in Europe or Eurasia. "That assumption has been now proven false," Craddock, NATO's supreme allied commander Europe, told the U.S. Senate's armed services committee. "Russia seems determined (to)...

Russia Tuesday shelved planned governmental talks with Ukraine after its West-leaning neighbour signed a gas network agreement with the European Union that prompted fury in Moscow. The latest flare-up of Russian-Ukrainian tensions over an overhaul of Ukraine's Soviet-era pipeline network has revived fears of a repeat of a January gas dispute which left a dozen EU countries without energy supplies. "The content of this declaration raises a number of questions to say the least," President Dmitry Medvedev said at a Russian national security council meeting also attended by his mentor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. "Let's postpone the consultations until we...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe on Monday welcomed a Ukrainian "master plan" to modernize the infrastructure carrying Russian gas to the west but Moscow warned that European Union energy security was at risk if Russia was not consulted. Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko told an investment conference at which the plan was unveiled that it appeared to draw Ukraine legally closer to the European Union and might harm Moscow's interests. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called the plan "unprofessional" and threatened to review ties if the EU continued to ignore Russian concerns. Ukraine unveiled the plan to increase the capacity of its...

BUDAPEST, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine has given fresh impetus to plans to build a pipeline through Turkey and the Balkans, bringing Central Asian gas to Western Europe. At the instigation of Hungary, European Union and Central Asian officials meet in Budapest on Tuesday to try to breathe new life into the 10-billion-euro ($12.96 billion) Nabucco scheme and reduce Europe's dependence on Russian gas. "There isn't a PR campaign in the world that could have given the Nabucco as much attention as the Russian-Ukrainian dispute did," Hungarian government spokeswoman Bernadett Budai, said. "This is...

(MOSCOW) - The realities of economic crisis in Russia get little play these days on television, where -- conveniently for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin -- the gas dispute with Ukraine is the only story in town. As Putin has taken personal control of Russia's "gas war" with Ukraine, touring gas facilities and meeting European politicians, the phrases "economic crisis" and "financial crisis" are barely heard on television channels that work in lockstep with the authorities and are Russians' main news source. This week a business broadsheet, Vedomosti, observed that in the latest New Year and Orthodox Christmas period the festive...

Russian state-controlled gas behemoth, Gazprom, has accused the United States of orchestrating the Ukraine's actions in the gas dispute that has left Europe with gas shortages. Russia started pumping transit gas destined for European consumers into the Ukraine earlier today for the first time since transit supplies were halted on January 8. "We believed yesterday that the door for Russian gas was open but again it's been blocked by the Ukrainians," Gazprom deputy chief executive Alexander Medvedev said on a conference call with reporters. "It looks like... they are dancing to the music which is being orchestrated not in Kiev...

US urges Russia to restore gas supply to Europe IANS Monday 12th January, 2009 Washington, Jan 13 (Xinhua) The US government has urged Russia to immediately restore gas supply via Ukraine to the European Union (EU). 'The US welcomes the agreement brokered by the Czech presidency of the EU to enable the restoration of gas flows to European customers and provide greater transparency along the transit route,' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday. 'Now that this agreement is in place, we call upon Russia to restore gas flows immediately. We also urge Russia and Ukraine to conclude quickly a...

BELGRADE, Serbia: Aleksa Branisavljevic's apartment is freezing, but his anger toward Russia burns hot. His every breath a visible plume, the elderly Belgrade resident railed against Moscow on Monday for a standoff with Ukraine that has shut off natural gas supplies to millions of eastern Europeans while those to the west have plenty of heat. "Russians always gave us nothing but misery. They should never be trusted, as this gas blackmail of Europe shows," Branisavljevic said. Mingled with the misery is a sense of betrayal in nations such as Serbia and Bulgaria — countries with traditional religious and cultural ties...

Gasmail by Peter Rutland 9 January 2009 The gas “crisis” should have been foreseen, even if there is little Europe can do about it short of revamping the whole supply and pricing system. It’s January, the season of long nights, cold days – and the suspension of Russian gas deliveries. In a moment of high drama, Russian television on 5 January showed Prime Minister Vladimir Putin telling Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller, “Yes, cut it today,” when Miller reported that Ukraine was siphoning off gas meant for Europe. Journalists covering the story like to put it into historical context – which...

If Russia was supposed to shut off the natural gas supply to Ukraine in a pricing dispute that is a repeat of what happened three-years ago, why is it that gas was also turned off in Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Austria, the Czech Republic and Greece? It does not really matter that gas will start flowing again soon. Europe’s dependence on a country that is willing and -- especially, is able -- to push it into freezing cold and darkness, is the crux of the issue. Russia relishes that role. And, the ongoing gas dispute with Ukraine and last summer’s invasion...

NJSC “Naftogaz of Ukraine” received facsimile warning from Gazprom OJSC concerning the reduction of natural gas supply volumes for the European users on 65,3 million c. m. per day to 221,8 million c. m. per day. Thus, from the 4th existent points of Russian transit gas entrance on the territory of Ukraine ( GMS Sudzha, GMS Valuyki, GMS Pisarivka and GMS Sokhranivka) only one GMS Sudzhais left in action. It means that Gazprom OJSC actually reduced the volumes of natural gas transit to the European users. Thus, the Russian company threatens to reduce gas-supplies to the countries of Europe, namely:...

Putin orders cuts to Europe-bound gas supplies through Ukraine by Christopher Boian Christopher Boian Mon Jan 5, 3:22 pm ET MOSCOW (AFP) – Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered gas giant Gazprom to start cutting supplies to Ukraine bound for European consumers in response to Kiev's alleged siphoning from pipelines. At a meeting in Putin's residence outside Moscow, Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller said the company would do its best to make up for the shortfall by sending more gas to Europe through Belarus, Poland and Turkey. "Start reducing it from today," Putin told Miller, referring to a...

Europe has been plunged into an energy crisis after Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's state-run gas company to cut supplies by 20 per cent... As temperatures dropped below zero across much of Europe, the Russian prime minister instructed the head of Gazprom: "Cut it - starting today." The cut was ordered to punish neighbouring Ukraine, which Russia accuses of topping up its own gas supply by siphoning off energy meant for European consumers and sent through its pipelines. without paying Russia.

Hungary says Russian gas supplies via Ukraine stopped Tue Jan 6, 2009 10:06pm IST BUDAPEST, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Russian gas shipments via Ukraine to Hungary halted on Tuesday and the Hungarian government said it would ask some power plants to switch to alternative fuel by 1000 GMT on Wednesday. "I would like to inform you that gas shipments from Ukraine continuously declined today and at 1430 GMT they completely stopped," Transport and Energy Minister Csaba Molnar told a news conference. The government would consider freeing up strategic gas reserves and make a decision on Wednesday morning if necessary, he...

Russian gas flow to Austria plunges 90 percent Tue Jan 6, 2009 9:14am GMT FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Russian gas flows to Austria dropped 90 percent on Tuesday amid a dispute between Moscow and Ukraine, oil and gas group OMV said, but added it was using its natural gas reserves to cover the shortfall. Russia cut off supplies to Ukraine on January 1 over debts, pledging supplies to western Europe would be safeguarded, but some southern and eastern European countries have seen flows fall or stop. OMV said it had been informed by its Russian partners that gas supplies would fall...

MOSCOW – Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom cut all natural gas supplies to Ukraine on Thursday morning after talks broke down over payments for past shipments and a new energy price contract for 2009. Gazprom officials said the cuts began as planned at 10 a.m. (0700GMT and 2 a.m. EST) and the Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz confirmed a steady drop in supplies.

MOSCOW -- Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said Wednesday it would stop supplying gas to Ukraine on Jan. 1 after the two parties failed to agree a new supply deal for 2009. Gazprom's Chief Executive Alexei Miller told reporters Ukraine had rejected a Russian proposal to increase 2009 prices to $250 per 1,000 cubic meters from $179.50 at present. He also said Gazprom hadn't yet received payment for gas delivered to Ukraine in November and December. Earlier in the day, Gazprom said Ukraine had threatened to seize gas intended for European customers if no deal was reached on gas shipments. Gazprom's...

MOSCOW, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Russia may scrap its Baltic Sea gas pipeline project, Nord Stream, and build gas liquefaction plants instead if Europe keeps delaying the pipeline, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. "Europe must decide whether it needs this pipeline or not," Putin told Finland's Prime Minister, Matti Vanhanen, at a meeting in Moscow. "If you don't we will build liquefaction plants and send gas to world markets, including to European markets. But it will be simply more expensive for you. You are free to make the calculations yourself," he added. .... An expert on Russian...