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Ukraine crisis: Russia halts gas supplies to Kiev
[BBC] Ukraine says Russia has cut off all gas supplies to Kiev, in a major escalation of a dispute between the two nations."Gas supplies to Ukraine have been reduced to zero," Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan said. Russia's state-owned gas giant Gazprom said Ukraine had to pay upfront for its gas supplies, after Kiev failed to settle its huge debt. Gazprom had asked Kiev to pay $1.95bn (1.15bn) of the $4.5bn it said it was owed by 06:00 GMT. The company said it would continue to supply gas to Europe, although Gazprom chief Alexei Miller warned there now were "significant" risks for gas transit to the EU via Ukraine. Ukraine has enough reserves to last until December, according to state gas company Naftogaz. Russia-Ukraine ties remain tense since Moscow annexed Crimea in February. Posted by: Fred 2014-06-16 |
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