Russia threatens to cut off Ukraine's gas - I bet China will buy any excess

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051229.wrussia1229/BNStory/International/

Moscow —

Ukraine's natural gas company declared Thursday that it has enough gas in storage to see the country through the winter if Russia halts shipments in a standoff over prices.

Russia's state-run natural gas monopoly, Gazprom, which provides about a third of the gas used in Ukraine, says it will stop selling gas to the country on Jan. 1 unless it agrees to a fourfold price increase.

The dispute has also raised concerns about supplies to the West because Gazprom supplies about half the gas consumed by the European Union — most of which goes through pipelines that cross Ukraine.

Gazprom has pledged that supplies to European customers won't be affected, but a spokesman for Ukraine's state-run gas provider, Naftogaz, questioned that.

Hows that USA bankrolled orange revolution doing for ya?

[BushOut06]

1. Russia & Ukraine have never gotten along

I did a term paper on Russo-Ukraine relations while taking a Eastern European Politics course. Much of it has to do with Russian access to the Black Sea. In fact, there was a minor naval skirmish in the 90s over Sevastopol, Ukraine's largest port. (this class was over ten years ago, so please don't press me for too many details ;) )