Ukraine gas negotiator halts Russia talks-agencies (Reuters via Yahoo! Philippines News)
MOSCOW, Dec 31 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko instructed the head of Ukrainian energy firm Naftogaz to suspend gas talks in Moscow with Russia and return to Kiev, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday.
Ukraine crudely blackmails Russia, Europe – Gazprom’s spokesman (Itar-Tass)
MOSCOW, KIEV, December 31 (Itar-Tass) — Ukraine refuses to guarantee Russian gas supplies to Western Europe and warns it may start confiscating Russian gas as of January 1, 2009. Russia has dismissed this as crude blackmail.
Medvedev calls for joint India-Russia interaction in New Year (Deepika)
Moscow, Dec 31 (UNI) In his New Year greetings to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has urged joint India-Russia interaction, in fight against terrorism and other new threats.
Russia govt not rule out RF, Ukraine PMs may have gas talks on Wed (Itar-Tass)
MOSCOW, December 31 (Itar-Tass) — The Russian government does not rule out that Prime Ministers of Russia and Ukraine Vladimir Putin and Yulia Timoshenko may hold talks on repayment of Ukraine’s gas debt on Wednesday.
Russia to halt gas supplies to Ukraine Thursday: Gazprom (AFP via Yahoo! News)
Russia and Ukraine failed Wednesday to reach an agreement in their gas standoff and Moscow will cut off supplies to Kiev at 0700 GMT Thursday, the CEO of Russian gas giant Gazprom Alexei Miller said.
Kiev warning on confiscation of Russia gas irresponsible (Itar-Tass)
MOSCOW, December 31 (Itar-Tass) – Irresponsible statements of the Ukrainian authorities about the possibility of confiscation of Russian export gas bring to mind and probably have been suggested by films about Makhno anarchists, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Russia’s natural gas giant Gazprom Alexander Medvedev said at a press conference on Wednesday drawing such a historical parallel.
Russia alleges Ukraine gas blackmail, Kiev denies (Reuters via Yahoo! Malaysia News)
MOSCOW, Dec 31 (Reuters) – Russia accused Ukraine of blackmail on Wednesday, saying Kiev had threatened to seize Russian transit gas to Europe if it fails to reach a new gas deal with Moscow, but Kiev denied plans to disrupt transit.
Russia’s inflation at 13.3% in 2008 – statistics service (Russian Information Agency Novosti)
MOSCOW, December 31 (RIA Novosti) – Russian consumer prices grew 0.7% in December and 13.3% in 2008 as a whole, Russia’s top statistics body said on Wednesday.
(AFX UK Focus) 2008-12-31 11:20 Russia alleges Ukraine gas blackmail, Kiev denies (Interactive Investor)
MOSCOW, Dec 31 (Reuters) – Russia accused Ukraine of blackmail on Wednesday, saying Kiev had threatened to seize Russian transit gas to Europe if it fails to reach a new gas deal with Moscow, but Kiev denied plans to disrupt transit. Sergei Kupriyanov, spokesman for Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom, said in a statement the company had received a letter from the Ukrainian authorities which …
Gazprom: Russia to cut gas supplies to Ukraine (The Charlotte Observer)
(By LYNN BERRY, Associated Press Writer) Russia’s state gas monopoly said it would cut off all natural gas supplies to Ukraine early Thursday after the two sides failed to agree on how much Ukraine would pay in 2009. The cutoff announced late Wednesday by Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller threatened a replay of a January 2006 faceoff, when a halt in Russian gas shipments to Ukraine during a similar …
