Russia Cuts Off Ukraine Gas Supply To 6 European Countries
Tyler Durden's pictureSubmitted by Tyler Durden on 01/14/2015 22:30 -0500
Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian state energy giant Gazprom to cut
supplies to and through Ukraine amid accusations, according to The Daily
Mail, that its neighbor has been siphoning off and stealing Russian gas. Due
to these "transit risks for European consumers in the territory of Ukraine,
" Gazprom cut gas exports to Europe by 60%, plunging the continent into an
energy crisis "within hours." Perhaps explaining the explosion higher in
NatGas prices (and oil) today, gas companies in Ukraine confirmed that
Russia had cut off supply; and six countries reported a complete shut-off of
Russian gas. The EU raged that the sudden cut-off to some of its member
countries was "completely unacceptable," but Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller later
added that Russia plans to shift all its natural gas flows crossing Ukraine
to a route via Turkey; and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak stated
unequivocally, "the decision has been made."