Energy Blast – Dec 26th, 2008

Gazprom has renewed its warning to Ukraine that it will cut gas deliveries on January 1 if new contracts were not signed for 2009 and all debts cleared, and now Dmitry Medvedev has threatened Ukraine with sanctions if the money is not paid.  ‘It is impossible to go on like this,‘ he said.  ‘It’s embarrassing to watch.  They should pay the money to the last rouble.‘ Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko says Russia has no plans to raise electricity tariffs for households in the first quarter.  Transneft, the state-run oil pipeline operator, will raise transit prices next year by an average of 15.7%.