By Dmitry Zhdannikov and Sabina Zawadzki
MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - Russia accused Ukraine of stealing gas destined for the rest of Europe on Friday, a day after cutting supplies to its neighbour in a contract dispute.
The volumes Russian export monopoly Gazprom said Ukraine was siphoning were small, but the accusation suggested Moscow was in no mood for compromise in a re-run of a 2006 argument that led to supply shortages across the EU.
Gazprom said it was responding to Ukraine's actions by increasing exports via alternative routes, including Belarus. Energy companies in Europe said they had not felt any disruptions to their supplies since the cut-off.
"The Ukrainian side openly admits it is stealing gas and is not ashamed of this," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said.
The European Union -- which receives a fifth of its gas via pipelines through Ukraine -- said it considered the row between Moscow and Kiev to be a bilateral issue and would not step in unless onward supplies started to suffer.
The row could raise new doubts about Moscow's reliability as an energy supplier and fuel suspicions in the West -- already running high since Russia's war with Georgia last August -- that the Kremlin bullies its pro-Western neighbours.
Russia denies politics are behind the dispute and says it is about prices and debts, but the two ex-Soviet neighbours have clashed over a drive by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko to take his country into the NATO alliance.
Gazprom spokesman Kupriyanov said Ukraine had agreed to ship 296 million cubic metres (mcm) to Europe on January 3, not the 303 mcm that Russia had requested.
"We are redirecting, increasing our gas supplies along other routes, such as Belarus," he said.
Ukraine had earlier said it was diverting 21 mcm a day of supplies destined for Europe so that it could maintain pressure in its pipeline system. Kupriyanov said Gazprom was aware of the pressure issue. "But if they need it, they must buy it."
Energy firms in Germany, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria and Turkey said on Friday their supplies were unaffected, echoing importers in most European countries who earlier reported they had not seen any drop in deliveries.
Europe, where temperatures fell below freezing overnight, has enough gas stockpiled to manage without Russian supplies for several days but could face difficulties if any disruption stretched into weeks, analysts said.
"We are not going to interfere until the moment when the pressure of gas reaches some low limits," Czech EU presidency spokesman Jiri Potuznik said.
TALKS SUSPENDED
Talks between Ukrainian state energy company Naftogaz and Gazprom have not resumed since they collapsed two days ago. If they do restart, the negotiators will have to bridge huge differences.
Alexei Miller, CEO of Gazprom, said on Thursday he wanted Ukraine to pay $418 (288 pounds) per 1,000 cubic metres (tcm) of gas, compared with the $179.5 Kiev paid in 2008. Ukraine says the most it can afford to pay is $235.
Gazprom charges about $500/tcm to customers in the European Union, though that is likely to fall by up to half this year. Gas prices track oil and crude has plummeted in value.
The EU is keen to avoid a repeat of the January 2006 row when Moscow cut off supplies to Ukraine, causing a brief reduction in deliveries to other parts of Europe in mid-winter.
Gas markets in northwest Europe seemed unconcerned about the supply outlook over the next few days, with prices falling in Britain and Belgium on expectations of warmer weather.
"I guess everyone expects it (the Russia-Ukraine row) to be resolved fairly soon and if it's resolved over the next day or so then it shouldn't cause any problems, there is plenty of storage to cover things as well," one UK gas trader said.
Ukraine's Naftogaz said it guaranteed uninterrupted supplies of Russian gas to Europe and that it was drawing the fuel from underground stockpiles to meet its own needs. Temperatures in Kiev were about 8 degrees Celsius below zero.
Squeezing more money from Ukraine is particularly pressing for Gazprom now as gas prices are on the way down.
A protracted row is likely to hurt the Ukrainian economy, already reeling from a drop-off in investor confidence and steep falls in the hryvnia currency that have not been stemmed by an International Monetary Fund loan.
