An Employee of Ukrainian gas firm UKRTRANSGAZ checks equipment in the
Boyarka village, near Ukrainian capital Kiev. Russia restored natural gas
supplies to its crucial European customers after they felt the squeeze of an
ongoing price war with Kiev, while Ukrainian officials flew to Moscow for talks
to resolve the crisis. (Source: CRIENGLISH.com/AFP)
Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Tuesday it had completed operations to
restore gas supply to European clients to make up for the shortfalls following
its cutoff of supply to Ukraine.
"Gazprom will compensate the European
consumers for the volume of gas unlawfully tapped by Ukraine," Gazprom spokesman
Sergei Kupriyanov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.
The
company promised on Monday to pump an extra 95 million cubic meters of gas per
day to European countries after they reported shortfalls in gas deliveries from
Russia.
Gazprom accused Ukraine of continuing to siphon off gas intended
for European consumers, which is transited via its territory, after a bitter
price dispute prompted Russia to cut off gas supply to Ukraine on Sunday.
Ukraine tapped 104.8 million cubic meters of Russian export gas on
Sunday and 118.7 million cubic meters on Monday, Kupriyanov said.
In a
related development, the biggest importer of gas in Germany, EON Ruhrgas, said
on Tuesday that imports of Russian gas had returned to normal after a disruption
linked to the dispute between Moscow and Kiev.
"The pressure in the
pipelines was back to normal as of this morning," an EON spokesman said.
EON is Germany's largest gas importer with a 60 percent share of the
market and holds a 6.5 percent stake in Russian energy giant Gazprom.
German gas companies on Monday reported disruptions in supplies from
Russia, a day after Gazprom cut off its supplies to Ukraine over a price
dispute.
Germany is by far Europe's biggest importer of gas from Russia,
which last year accounted for nearly 38 percent of its consumption.
Russian and Ukrainian officials will hold talks Tuesday on resolving the
price dispute, a Gazprom spokesman said.
Russia cut off its gas
deliveries to Ukraine on Jan. 1 after Ukraine refused to meet its demand for a
fourfold price increase.
However, it said it would continue to send full
supplies to other European customers that get Russian gas through pipes crossing
Ukraine.