Russia, Ukraine Reach Natural Gas Agreement

Spat with Ukraine leaves half of continent short of fuel

(NEWSER) - European nations from Austria to Greece lost most or all of their gas supplies today, as a showdown between Russia and Ukraine imperiled the entire continent. Last night Gazprom, the Russian state gas company, cut its supply by 60% to punish Ukraine for allegedly stealing fuel that should flow through the country to central and eastern Europe. This morning, after the coldest night of the winter, Bulgaria begged its citizens to conserve gas as it faced "a crisis situation." More»

Thousands of eastern Europeans left in the cold by Russia-Ukraine dispute

(NEWSER) - Gas could be flowing back to a frozen Europe within days after Russian and Ukrainian officials agreed yesterday to an EU-brokered plan to have independent observers monitor pipelines, the Guardian reports. Russia cut off all its gas supplies via Ukraine Wednesday over a pricing dispute, leaving hundreds of thousands scrambling to stay warm in a deadly cold snap. More»

Agreement reached; export flow to Europe not in danger

(NEWSER) - Ukraine and Russia announced today that their natural-gas companies had settled the dispute that had caused Russia to cut gas supply to Ukraine by 50%—and spurred worries that the flow of gas to Western Europe would be disrupted, the AP reports. "The restrictions on deliveries for Ukrainian consumers have been lifted," reads a joint statement from Gazprom and Naftogaz. More»

News comes six days before Russia's presidential election

(NEWSER) - Just released information about a bust that happened weeks ago: Russian TV reports that Ukrainian and Russian intelligence agents arrested a team plotting to assassinate Vladimir Putin. An explosion drew officials to an Odessa apartment housing would-be assassins allegedly working under Doku Umarov, a Chechen terrorist leader, the New York Times reports. One person died in the blast, while two survived; one of them told agents about the plot to attack Moscow sites and then Putin himself. Among the man's revelations: that the group tracked the routes Putin's drivers traveled through Moscow. More»

(NEWSER) - The very strategies that made Gazprom an international force are now causing the energy giant—and consequently, Moscow—unaccustomed financial stress, the New York Times reports. Vladimir Putin built Gazprom into a goliath by aggressively dominating natural gas supplies, but to do it, he entered into long-term contracts to buy gas from Central Asian countries at now-insane prices. With demand and prices down drastically, Russia is being forced to sell at huge losses. More»