Russia, Ukraine Trade Blame Over Gas

Hey! Who stopped the flow? *Russia stopped selling gas to Ukraine on Jan. 1 in a dispute over prices and debts, then stopped sending any gas into its vast pipeline system on Jan. 7, alleging Ukraine was siphoning off supplies destined for Europe. EU officials criticized both nations for their intransigence and eastern European nations strive to find heat. Russia's state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom said it began pumping gas to Europe after cutting off supplies amid a pricing dispute with Ukraine. But EU officials said no gas was flowing and their monitors were not allowed full access to either nation's gas control rooms so outside experts could not figure out what was going on or who was to blame. Gazprom accused Ukraine of blocking the gas, while Ukraine countered that the Russian energy giant had deliberately routed the gas in a way that made it impossible for Ukraine to pump it on to European consumers. EU monitors brought in to keep tabs on gas flows in both countries weren't saying who was at fault, but the EU was clearly angry at the crisis that has deprived millions of heat, light and even work. Sales of electric heaters have soared and thousands of businesses in Eastern Europe have been forced to cut production or even close. Millions of people have been affected by the heating crisis or involuntary layoffs. The basic dispute between the two ex-Soviet neighbors involves Ukraine's debts to Russia, fines for late payment, and a new price for gas in 2009. Europe gets about 20 percent of its gas from Russia through pipelines that cross Ukraine. EU energy ministers concluded that the 27-nation bloc needed to increase investment in energy infrastructure to reduce its dependence on Russia. ニュースアニメ「ロシア・ウクライナガス紛争」 ロシアのウクライナ向け天然ガス供給削減をめぐる両国の対立が続いている。ロシア政府系天然ガス企業ガスプロムは、ウクライナ向けガス価格について、これまで提示していた額より値上げすると表明。ウクライナがこれに応じず、２国間のガス価格交渉は中断。対立の余波は欧州に拡大している。ロシアがウクライナ経由のパイプラインで欧州諸国に輸出するガスは、欧州各国のガス会社が扱うガス量の約５分の１を占める。 そもそもロシアは、ソ連時代に東欧から西欧にかけて一大パイプライン輸送網を構築し、大量に産出される天然ガスを各国に輸出してきた。特に、ウクライナを含む独立国家共同体諸国に対しては、歴史的な経緯から欧州諸国に比して割安な価格で供給していた。一方、ウクライナはソ連時代から再三ロシアに無断でのガスの抜き取りを行っていた。特に、ソ連崩壊後の１９９０年代初頭は料金不払い・無断抜き取りが多発していたため、幾度にもわたるガス供給停止が発生している。

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YouTube | January 14, 2009