Germany Gets Gas
January 21, 2009
Following the settlement of the Russia-Ukraine price and payment dispute, Germany's biggest importer E.ON Ruhrgas said the resumption of deliveries via Ukraine has been completed.
"All systems are in normal operation," a company spokesman told reporters.
Germany, Europe's biggest economy, receives more Russian gas than any other European country and relies on Moscow for almost 40 percent of its imports, which come through either Ukraine or Belarus.
German and Russian firms are also working on bypassing both these countries with the Nord Stream pipeline, scheduled to bring 55 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia under the Baltic Sea straight to Germany by 2012.
Germany was not the only country which reported restored gas supplies.
Russian gas piped via Ukraine was reported to have arrived in France, Poland, Bosnia, Serbia and Turkey after the interruption in supplies which came during a bitter mid-winter cold spell.
The cut had revived Europe's anxiety regarding its dependence on Russia for natural gas.
On Tuesday, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia said that gas was flowing again.
EU reconsiders dependency on Russian gas
The European Union relies on Russia for almost a quarter of all the gas it consumes, notably for heating and for powering certain industrial activities. But the dispute has shaken the EU's confidence in Russia and Ukraine as reliable energy partners.
After gas pipelines to the EU were reopened on Tuesday, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso urged European nations to look for supplies elsewhere to end their natural gas dependence on Russia and strive to implement a new energy and climate package.
Asked by reporters in Brussels whether Europe had to reduce its dependence on Russia, Barroso said: "Yes, of course."