Kommersant: "How the gas conflict developed"
On December 24, 2008, Gazprom, in the course of its negotiations with a Naftogaz of Ukraine delegation arriving in Moscow, demanded that Ukraine pay the $2.118 billion it owed for gas supplies in 2008 before signing a contract for 2009.
On December 26, Gazprom warned European consumers of the likelihood of disruptions in supplies through Ukraine.
On December 29, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin reported the failure of his telephone negotiations with Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko. Gazprom said Ukraine would have to pay $418 per thousand cubic metres of gas beginning January 1, 2009.
On December 30, Ukraine transferred $1.5 billion to Gazprom by way of paying its debt. Naftogaz CEO Oleh Dubyna sent Gazprom a letter announcing for the first time that Ukraine might tap Russian gas because of the lack of transit agreements for 2009. The media got hold of a draft of a letter by Alexei Miller, where he described this position as "blackmail" (see the full text of both letters on the www.kommersant.ru website).
On December 31, at a meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Putin said Ukraine refused to accept the price of $250 per thousand cubic metres. The Naftogaz delegation left Russia.
On January 1, 2009, at 10:00 a.m., Gazprom stopped supplies to Ukrainian consumers (110 million cubic metres per day) and increased transit to Europe from 300 million to 326 million cubic metres a day. Naftogaz offered to pay $235 per thousand cubic metres. Mr Yushchenko and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said $201 per thousand cubic metres was an "acceptable price."
On January 2, Naftogaz announced it had tapped 21 million cubic metres of transited gas for technological needs. Poland said supplies via Ukraine were down 6%, and Romania 30% to 40% down.
On January 3, RosUkrEnergo filed a claim with the Stockholm Arbitration Institute for the recovery of a $614 million debt from Naftogaz for December 2008 and an action to ensure gas transit.
On January 4, Gazprom said Ukraine had "stolen" about 50 million cubic metres of gas and named a new price - $450 per thousand cubic metres. The Czech Republic said its supplies were off 5%.
On January 5, Greece, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Croatia reported reduced deliveries. The Kiev Commercial Court forbade Naftogaz to transit Russian gas at a fee of $1.60 per thousand cubic metres per 100 kilometres across Ukraine. The Federal Customs Service of Russia told Gazprom to "optimise" the flow of gas via Ukraine. The company said it was cutting back its volume "by the amount stolen from Russia."
On January 6, Russian gas supplies for Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Bosnia and Macedonia stopped. Gazprom said Ukraine had shut down three of the four transit pipelines.
On January 7, at 7:00 a.m., Ukraine shut down the last transit pipeline. Gazprom said it was halting the delivery of gas into Ukraine's gas transportation system until Kiev gave transit guarantees. Austria, Romania, Slovakia and Poland said they were receiving no gas from Ukraine. On the night of January 7-8, Mr Miller and Mr Dubyna held non-productive talks in Moscow.
On January 8, in Brussels, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and the European Commission held negotiations on gas transit monitoring.
On January 9, Mr Medvedev instructed Gazprom not to deal with the Ukrainian side until it signed the necessary documents.
On January 10, a Hungarian gas operator, Emfesz, filed a claim against Naftogaz in the European Court of Justice. In Moscow, Russia and the EU signed a protocol on control over gas supplies via Ukraine.
