It's getting cold in Europe...

[Conqueror]

With the Russia-Ukraine gas argument going, it appears that no gas is coming through the southern pipelines anymore. This has significant impact on the Balkans countries, as they depend much on gas for heating.

http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/rus...33896/catid_68
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7817043.stm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090108/...ia_ukraine_gas

South-east Europe has borne the brunt of the disruption, but it has affected supplies as far west as France and Germany as Europe faced freezing mid-winter temperatures.

Hundreds of thousands of people across the Balkans went without heating on Thursday and more factories closed. In Turkey, production at three power stations was halted.

Guess there's not much to do but hope that the weather turns warmer soon.

[Alexanderofmacedon]

They need to resolve this quickly. Some Baltic states are around 100% dependent on Russian gas.

[Ser Clegane]

When we bought our house last year, the guy who sold us the house told us that his father (who was the previous owner) did not change from oil heating to gas heating because he did not believe in reliable gas supply from Russia.

At that point I thought that to be somewhat eccentric - considering the last months (foundation of gas cartel, now this) I do not think that gas heating will be our primary choice when we install a new heating in the next two years...

[HoreTore]

Has anyone else noticed that it's Ukraine, not Russia, who are screwing up the gas?

[Ser Clegane]

Has anyone else noticed that it's Ukraine, not Russia, who are screwing up the gas?

It appears that the "blame question" is still subject of debates.
However, in this thread nobody seems to have put the blame on either of the invollved parties so far.

[Husar]

Makes me feel a little better about paying so much for the oil heating here.

[HoreTore]

Makes me feel a little better about paying so much for the oil heating here.

We used to have cheap electricity here.....


walks away mumbling and grumbling about privatization and other rubbish instead of derailing the thread further..

[rory_20_uk]

Ukraine does seem to expect Russia to subsidise it - even as it turns its back on Russia.

Russia isn't a particularly friendly country. The UK and Russia have not been great friends for over 100 years. Today it is Ukraine's doing. But What if Russia one day decides that it wants to double prices overnight? Europe can freeze or pay.

Importing fuel from another country isn't a bad idea. Getting all one's power needs is.

The most frustrating thing is that this has happened not that many years ago.
I don't really care where the energy comes from: geothermal plants in Iceland, solar power plants in turkey, Wind, Wave, coal or nuclear - but the underlying feature should either be a plurality of sources.

[rvg]

Russia as a supplier is by default responsible for honoring its deal with Europe. If Ukraine isn't cooperating, that is not Europe's problem, it's Russia's problem and they should deal with it even if it means building a new gas pipeline that would skirt around Ukraine.

[rory_20_uk]

Nope. Russia has no obligations, as it is Ukraine who has contractual obligations to ship the gas through.

If Europe was in a stronger bargaining position they could stipulate demands, but as it is we've no choice.

There is a new pipeline being built to Germany BTW. These things do take time to build.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Russia as a supplier is by default responsible for honoring its deal with Europe. If Ukraine isn't cooperating, that is not Europe's problem, it's Russia's problem and they should deal with it even if it means building a new gas pipeline that would skirt around Ukraine.

No enforcing authority can require Russia to honor its contracts if it does not wish to do so. Russia presumes that this embargo will put more pressure on Ukraine than Russia. Maybe so.