Russian gas reaches Europe
Russian gas reaches Europe via Ukraine for first time in two weeks
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Wednesday, 21, Jan 2009 08:24
Russian gas has reached Europe via Ukraine for the first time in two weeks after a price dispute between the two nations was resolved.
Austria, Slovakia and Hungary said on Tuesday they had begun receiving gas through the pipeline and the rest of Europe is expected to begin receiving supplies again later today.
Millions of Europeans were forced to suffer in freezing conditions throughout January after a gas-supplying contract between Russia and Ukraine expired.
Disputes arose between the two nations over the price of gas, with Russian gas company Gazprom halting all shipments to Europe via Ukraine on January 7th claiming gas was being siphoned off.
However, on Monday Russia's prime minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukraine counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko agreed a new deal ending the price disagreements.
The new deal will see Ukraine paying for Russian gas at European rates from 2010 while charging Moscow market rates for transit.
The Ukraine president Viktor Yushchenko, though, has since criticised the deal suggesting the price set for Russian gas was too high and offsetting transit rates for Ukraine too low.