Russian gas flows to four European Union countries were below normal levels yesterday after Moscow cut off supplies to Ukraine in a pricing row, and there were no talks in sight to resolve the dispute.
With temperatures below zero overnight in Europe, Bulgaria's Bulgargaz operator joined energy firms in Poland, Romania and Hungary in saying they had noted falls in supply, although flows to Europe's biggest economy, Germany, were not affected.
The EU, which gets a fifth of its gas from pipelines that cross Ukraine, said it would call a crisis meeting of envoys in Brussels tomorrow and demanded that transit and supply contracts be honoured.
But the prospects of a swift settlement to the dispute appeared remote. Moscow alleged Kiev was stealing gas intended for Europe and playing political games, while Ukraine accused Russia of using "energy blackmail".
Three years after a similar dispute briefly disrupted supplies, European fears of gas flows dropping off in the dead of winter were once again becoming a reality, and Russia's reputation as a reliable gas supplier was under new scrutiny.
Poland, which had earlier reported a drop in Russian supplies, said deliveries via Ukraine were now down 11 per cent.
Hungary said pressure in its pipeline from Ukraine had recovered slightly but was still below normal levels.
Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom said it was increasing deliveries to Europe by 52 million cubic metres per day, or about 16 per cent, to compensate for the fuel it accused Ukraine of either blocking or stealing. The extra deliveries were being pumped around Ukraine - through Belarus and Turkey - as well as from underground storage facilities in Europe.
Russia halted all supplies to Ukraine on New Year's Day in what it called a purely commercial dispute, but in the background there is fierce disagreement over a drive by Kiev's pro-Western leaders to join NATO.
Europe has enough gas stockpiled to manage without Russian supplies for several days. It could face difficulties should problems last for weeks, especially if cold weather drives up demand, analysts said.
Signalling that a way out of the gas row was still some way off, Gazprom said Kiev was not ready to resume negotiations.
"They are not negotiating because there is nobody to negotiate. It looks like they are not thinking about their own country, just playing political games," said Gazprom deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev.
The Gazprom official had talks with officials in the Czech Republic, holder of the EU's rotating presidency, just hours after a delegation from Ukraine had also been there to try to lobby for European support.
"Europe must be interested in helping to solve the dispute as quickly as possible ... What we need from the EU is their help to persuade Ukraine to follow the rules of behaviour at the negotiating table," Medvedev told Reuters in an interview.
Ukraine, already reeling from the effects of the global financial crisis, denied it was stealing gas intended for Europe and instead alleged Gazprom had itself cut flows via Ukraine.
"Gazprom's position breaches international practices of holding negotiations... and amounts to energy black mail," Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz said in a statement.
The gulf between the two sides is vast. Russia is demanding that Ukraine pay $418 per 1,000 cubic metres of gas this year. Dubyna said that price could tip Ukraine into a humanitarian crisis.