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Bulgaria, Macedonia and Romania will be most affected in case the exports with Russian gas through
Ukraine is suspended, according to an analysis published on Thursday by London School of Economics (LSE), the standartnews.com sends. The LSE analysts appreciate that one of the most serious worries of the states in the EU regarding the present situation in Crimea is their dependence on the Russian gas, as 60% of the import is delivered through pipes on the territory of Ukraine.
The issue could be a regional one, the British analysts consider, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Romania being forced to face a significant reduction of deliveries, in case exports of Russian gas is suspended through Ukraine.
Other states in Central and Eastern Europe will not be confronted with urgent problems, due to the stocks of gas they own, as long as the suspension of deliveries through Ukraine is no longer than two months. Thus, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Slovakia own stocks enough of gas in their warehouses to face an interruption of delivery for 2- 3 months.
On Thursday, the general manager of Gazprom Alexei Miller announced that the company delivers natural gas through Ukraine, in spite of the debts of Kiev, Alexei Miller added that, at present, Ukraine owes Gazprom 1.8 billion dollars, and the non-payment of the bill endangers the Gazprom capacity to make investments and pay dividends.
Gazprom delivers approximately half of the natural gas destined to Europe through a series of pipes which cross Ukraine. Last year, the Russian group delivered the EU and Turkey a record quantity of 162 billion cubic metres natural gas, out of which 86 billion cubic metres went through Ukraine.