Naftogaz again refuses to transit Russian gas to EU- Gazprom

Last night Gazprom sent Naftogaz another application for the transit of 99.2 million cubic meters of gas through the Sudzha entry point on Thursday. The volume included 13.9 million cu m of gas for Moldova, 63.1 million cu m for the Balkans and 22.2 million cu m for Slovakia.

"The response contained a refusal to transit gas over the absence of a technical gas transfer agreement for 2009," Gazprom said, urging Naftogaz to honor its gas transit commitments.

Some 18 EU countries have been affected by the stoppage of Russian gas supplies through Ukraine, which transits some 80% of Russia's exports to Europe. An EU-brokered deal to resume supplies on Tuesday also resulted in failure after Russia's attempts to pump gas through the Ukrainian network were unsuccessful.