Russian Gas Corp Threatens To Cut Off Gas If Ukraine Doesn't Pay Bill Immediately — EU Gears Up To Send Ukraine Gas

Gazprom workers attend to work at the construction site of the South Stream, a proposed gas pipeline to transport Russian natural gas through the Black Sea to Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Austria  (December 7, 2012 in Anapa, Russia).

By Paul Lewis, Suzanne Goldenberg, Ian Traynor, Terry Macalister
EU leaders are rapidly drawing up plans to send some of their stocks of Russian gas back to Ukraine and other eastern European countries that need it, if Vladimir Putin reacts to western sanctions over the Crimea crisis by starving the continent of energy.

Russia’s largest gas producer, Gazprom, said on Friday that Kiev had missed a deadline to pay $440m for gas received in February and threatened to cut off the country’s supply if it did not make the payment.

Gazprom provides Ukraine with around half its gas, and other countries in eastern and southern Europe, including Poland and Greece, reportedly have low stocks of gas.

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