Russia has scrapped January oil exports via Ukrainian ports and also said it fears Ukraine will have problems paying for its gas, a sign of a possible repeat of New Year gas rows which have led to supply cuts in Europe, according to Reuters. Europe, which receives 25 percent of gas from Russia, was left short of supplies in January 2006 and 2009 because of pricing rows between Moscow and Kiev. Another key transit state, Belarus, cut Russian oil flows to Europe in January 2007, also due to a pricing row, which further undermined the image of Russia, the world"s largest oil and gas producer, as a reliable energy supplier. Analysts have said Moscow is unlikely to be tough on Kiev this year ahead of Ukraine"s presidential election in January in the hope Ukraine chooses a relatively pro-Russian leader. Ukraine has been regularly paying its gas bills this year, but the December bill, due before Jan 11, was expected to soar to $1 billion from $770 million in November due to low temperatures. However, despite the expected rise in cold weather demand, Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom said on Friday Ukraine had cut gas purchases in recent days. "We assess the situation with payments for Russian natural gas deliveries in December as very alarming," Gazprom"s chief executive Alexei Miller told state television. "In the middle of December, there was a trend of a reduction of gas off-take which confirms that Ukraine is facing serious difficulties with (future) gas payments," Miller said.
