What worry in these times of extreme cold

Europe receives since yesterday morning over a drop of Russian gas via the Ukraine. The supply of the Druzhba (friendship) pipeline that provides twenty-seven, to the tune of about one-fifth of their consumption, and a week of the Balkan countries, is indeed completely interrupted. What worry, in these times of extreme cold. However the negotiations should resume today urgently in Moscow between the semi-public Russian gas monopoly, Gazprom, and its Ukrainian partner, Naftogaz. A hearing of the Chairman of Gazprom, Alexei Miller, and the number two of Naftogaz, Oleg Doubina, is also expected in the afternoon in Brussels.

Of course, most of the members of the Union, including the France (the Prime Minister, François Fillon called yesterday evening a meeting with the President of GDF, Gérard Mestrallet, Christine Lagarde, economy Minister and the Minister of sustainable development, Jean-Louis Borloo), say have sufficient stocks and suppliers alternative to avoid rationing (see below). But, in contrast to Paris that matters more than 16 of its gas from Russia, the countries of the Balkans or Eastern Europe get their is 70 to 100 of their consumption. The Bulgaria has therefore imposed emergency restrictions on gas companies, like the Hungary and the Poland, while in Sarajevo the heating was completely cut 10 C, as during the siege of the Bosnian capital during the civil war of 1992-1996. The Slovakia is threatening to restart a nuclear power plant stopped a few months ago.

Kiev and Moscow to return the responsibility for this crisis. If Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered yesterday the closing of the tap was, according to him, because the Ukraine "flying" already since the day before the whole of the gas delivered. Kiev replies that there no need to drain anything, since it has stocks made since the last break in 2006, to hold until the spring.

"Firmer intervention."

Is that the gas pressure is zero in the pipes serving the Poland, the Romania, the Italy, Macedonia, the Serbia, the Czech Republic, the Bulgaria, the Greece, the Turkey, the Austria, the Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia. The Germany, the main customer of Gazprom, has noted a significant reduction of its supplies, which would be offset by an increase in flows through Belarus.

Before deemed it "totally unacceptable" by the International Energy Agency, the European Union has increased the tone yesterday, while it refused so far to intervene in a bilateral dispute between Moscow and Kiev. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country chairs the EU this semester, warned that the Union would now engage in a "more robust intervention", without further detail, if supplies are not restored. The High Representative of the Union for foreign policy, Javier Solana, said yesterday that the gas should not be used "as an instrument of policy", while an advisor to George Bush was going to accuse Russia of "threatening its neighbours and manipulate their access to energy", which would jeopardize its aspiration to greater influence in the world.

The Kremlin, which insists that this dispute is strictly business, warned yesterday that shipments resume that after the deployment of international observers measuring the flow of gas in transit, that Brussels seems ready to accept.