PUTIN'S UKRAINIAN GAS GAMBIT INTENSIFIES

BBC:

Russia has accused Ukraine of stealing $25m of gas exports destined for Europe after it cut off supplies to the country on Sunday. Some European states say supplies from a pipeline running through Ukraine have fallen by up to 40%. Ukraine denied taking the gas, but said it would indeed siphon off a share if temperatures fell below freezing. GAS CUT IMPACT:

* Ukraine - loses 100% of Russian imports
* Hungary - Russian imports down 40%
* Poland - supply down 14% on Sunday.
Seeking to increase supplies from alternative pipe
* Austria, Slovakia, Romania - supplies down by a third
* Germany - no problems yet, but later cuts to big firms "not ruled out"
* France - heavy user of Russian gas, but no problems likely yet

ENI reports that ITALY'S gas imports from Russia are down 25%, to only 6% of their total. Nevertheless they are calling an emergency meeting on the situation.

IHT/NYT:

Russia's abrupt disruption in natural gas supplies intended for Ukraine cascaded through the European pipeline system Monday, with Hungary, Austria and Slovakia reporting a drop in pressure at a time of peak winter demand, deepening the sense that a dispute between Russia and Ukraine over prices was spiraling into a wider energy crisis.

An executive at Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, accused Ukraine of diverting natural gas exports intended for Western Europe to satisfy the needs of the former Soviet republic of 48 million people, with an economy heavily dependent on cheap natural gas. Ukraine's energy minister immediately denied the accusation.

CHECKOUT A COMPLETE ROUND-UP ON THIS CRISIS in thorough post I wrote earlier HERE.