Russia, Ukraine trade blame over blocked gas exports

By Tom Bergin and Chris Baldwin

LONDON (Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday accused each other of blocking gas exports to European neighbors as their clash over pricing intensified.

Russian gas supplies via Ukraine stopped to a series of countries from Turkey to France on Tuesday as sub-zero temperatures increased demand for winter fuel.

Deputy Chief Executive Alexander Medvedev of Russian gas giant Gazprom told journalists in London Ukraine had blocked export routes.

"We became hostage to the irresponsible behavior of the transit country ... The situation is very serious," he said, adding that Russia had a good record as a supplier.

"We have a lot to be proud of. Forty years of reliable supply in very difficult times," he said.

The CEO of Ukraine's state run energy company Naftogaz, Oleh Dubyna denied the accusations.

"All these statements about Ukraine cutting gas to Europe are simply untrue. Statements about us not accepting Russian gas and not carrying out transit are also untrue," he told journalists in Kiev.

"So statements by Mr. Medvedev that we have closed pipelines to Europe are wrong as are statements about Ukraine stealing gas. That is simply untrue. Ukraine is fulfilling all its obligations ... Ukraine is ready to supply all gas to Europe if Russia increases supplies."

Kiev and Moscow have clashed every winter since a dispute over gas prices briefly cut supplies to western Europe in January 2006, prompting consuming countries to look for other ways of getting gas that have so far had limited success.

Medvedev said the situation this winter was more serious than three years ago, although he said Russia had learnt from the previous crisis.

"After 2005-2006 we got some lessons, because we were wrongly blamed for what happened at the time," he said.

"There is no reason to blame Russia or Gazprom in this particular case," he said.

Russia has told Ukraine to return 65 million cubic meters of gas that it said has been taken from pipelines shipping gas to Europe and Medvedev said European countries should consider taking legal action against Ukraine.

Russia switched off supplies intended for Ukraine's domestic use on January 1 after failing to resolve a dispute over how much Kiev should pay for its gas.

Apart from the growing impact on supply, Medvedev warned lower flows could lead to technical problems with the Russian gas export pipeline network.