Belarus-Russia gas dispute threatens Poland, Europe
By Samuel Donkin,WNS Poland Correspondent
WARSAW - The dispute between Belarus and Moscow over natural gas prices threatens the energy security of Poland and the rest of Europe, an official at the Polish foreign ministry has said. "This problem poses a threat to us and this is why we have had heated debate in the past few months about Polish-Russian relations and relations between Europe and Russia," Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Kowal said Wednesday. "Energy security today is a fundamental issue for Poland and we want to convince the rest of the world that it is also fundamental to Europe. This example is yet another illustration," he said.
Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom wants Belarus to pay more than double the current price it pays for natural gas from 2007 and has threatened to cut supplies from Monday if no deal is reached. Minsk said on Wednesday that Russian natural gas deliveries to Europe could be threatened if Russian group Gazprom were to cut gas to Belarus next week over a dispute about prices. About 20 percent of Russian gas supplies to Europe pass through Belarus. Kowal said that Poland had sufficient gas reserves of its own and would also be able to count on supplies via Ukraine "so we should not have any worries in the short term".
He also said: "But if such a situation should become reality, and if it lasted, it would be a threat." The row between Minsk and Moscow is a reminder of what happened on January 1 last year, when Gazprom cut supplies to Ukraine after Kiev had rejected a four-fold price increase. That disruption, although brief, was felt throughout much of Europe, which was caught last year in the grip of one of the coldest winters on record. About 80 percent of the Russian gas piped to Europe passes through Ukraine. Official EU data indicates that the 25-nation bloc relies on Russia for more than 40 percent of its imported gas and more than 30 percent of the oil it imports.
posted by wnsworld @ 11:26 PM
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