By Oleg Shchedrov and Yuri Kulikov
MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - EU states cut off for days from Russian gas in freezing temperatures pleaded on Wednesday for an end to wrangling between Moscow and Kiev which has stalled a deal to restore fuel supplies.
European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso called the crisis "unacceptable and incredible" and said the EU executive would advise the bloc's firms to sue Russian and Ukrainian energy companies unless gas supplies were restored quickly.
A deal brokered by the EU, which gets a quarter of its gas from Russia, was supposed to get supplies moving on Tuesday, with international monitors in place to ensure that Ukraine was not siphoning off any gas, as Moscow has alleged.
Russia began pumping gas meant for Europe via Ukraine on Tuesday but the EU said little or none was flowing yet to countries downstream suffering urgent energy shortages.
Russia accused Ukraine of deliberately cutting gas to Europe while Kiev said Russia had so far provided so little gas there was not enough pressure in the pipelines to pump it on.
Leaders from some of the worst affected countries visited the two protagonists on Wednesday to demand a swift end to the crisis, with signs patience is wearing thin with both sides.
"The biggest risk for both Russia and Ukraine is the issue of trust," Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev told Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
"The dispute has been running for a few years but it should not turn third countries into hostages," he said.
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, visiting his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko in Kiev, said his country had just 11 days of gas reserves left.
"After 12 days, we will be obliged to resort to measures never seen in our history. May I simply ask how long this will go on?" he asked Tymoshenko.
Slovakian officials later said, however, they had secured new supplies to cover consumption until the end of January.
Slovakia, which gets almost all its gas from Russia, declared a state of emergency on January 6, under which gas deliveries to large clients were reduced. About 1,000 companies were forced to shut down or cut production.
The Slovakian government said Fico had stressed Ukraine's responsibility for the crisis and said it had "negatively affected Ukraine's credibility."
EUROPEAN PRESSURE
Tymoshenko told Fico that Ukraine was "the same hostage in the dispute as the European Union" while Russia's Putin told his visitors the European Union should put more pressure on Kiev.
"It is not our problem. It is the problem of the transit country and they must solve it," Putin told the premiers of Slovakia, Bulgaria and Moldova, all badly hit by the gas crisis.
"In my view, European officials could do more to put pressure on the transit country to ensure European interests," he said earlier.
The head of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said Russia could supply some gas for Ukraine's domestic needs if it agreed to send Slovakia equivalent volumes. But for technical reasons, Gazprom could not do the same with Bulgaria, where temperatures plunged as low as minus 21 Celsius this week.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, speaking at a joint news conference with Polish President Lech Kaczynski in the Polish town of Wisla, said his country was ready to act.
"If Russia, if Gazprom, ships 300-410 million cubic metres of gas (per day) for European consumers, Ukraine guarantees to oversee shipment to those consumers, even with no transit contract, even while receiving no payment pending resolution of the problem," he said.
The dispute has hit 18 countries in the depths of winter, shutting down factories and leaving householders shivering.
EU president Barroso told the European Parliament that failure to honour supply agreements would mean Russia and Ukraine could no longer be regarded as reliable.
"If the agreement sponsored by the EU is not honoured, the Commission will advise EU companies to take this matter to the courts," he told EU lawmakers.
The gas row reflects poor political relations between Russia and Ukraine. Moscow is vehemently opposed to moves by Ukraine's pro-Western leadership to join the U.S.-led NATO alliance.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Gazprom had lost $1.1 billion (754 million pounds) from the fall in exports to Europe caused by the row.
"Our country cannot lose such money. The time for presents is over," Medvedev said on state television.
Gazprom is demanding Kiev hand over $614 million for unpaid gas bills and pay $450 per 1,000 cubic metres of gas in 2009. That is similar to rates paid by EU customers but a big rise on last year's price of $179.5.
Analysts in Kiev say Ukraine, saddled with debt and hard hit by the global slowdown, cannot afford that price.
(Additional reporting by Wojciech Zurawski; Writing by Jon Boyle; Editing by Matthew Jones)
