Russia emerging natural gas crisis

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Russian electricity grid chief lashes out at gas utility Source: BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union - Economic Publication date: 2000-04-07

Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax Vologda, 7th April: UES [Unified Energy System of Russia] Chief Executive Anatoliy Chubays blamed Gazprom's investment mistakes - and the resulting decline in gas production - for this month's emerging natural gas crisis in the electricity generation sector.

"Gazprom is undergoing a severe crisis," Chubays said at a meeting of regional power company leaders in Vologda. "The crisis means a steady decline in sale of gas on the domestic market," he said.

"The gas crisis could grow into a catastrophe," Chubays said, adding that the crisis would persist until 2003. The problem will become one of the most severe in the nation in the second quarter and will cause an uproar.

"Beginning today, UES is for the first time enacting very serious limits on electricity consumption because of shortfalls in gas deliveries to the electric companies," Chubays said.

On Monday [10th April] a gas crisis committee at UES, chaired by Chubays personally, will begin functioning on a permanent basis.

Gazprom plans to deliver 22bn cubic metres to the utilities in the second quarter. UES has asked for 27bn cubic metres.

The problem isn't with UES's gas payment record, "but with the actual reduction in gas production brought about by Gazprom investment mistakes made two or three years ago", Chubays said, adding that Gazprom had not invested enough funds in production.

http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com/pages/cnniw/Story.nsp?story_id=9865909&ID=cnniw&scategory=Utilities

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 07, 2000

Answers

First Gazprom cuts their natural gas shipments to Europe by two-thirds, then they cut off all gas deliveries to Moldavia, cut back on shipments to Ukraine, now they are cutting shipments in their own country.

Dare anyone say y2k?

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), April 08, 2000.


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