January 07, 2009

Russia has agreed to cut gas supplies via Ukraine, claiming Ukraine have been siphoning off gas. Unfortunately, the Ukraine pipeline also supplies Austria, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, France, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey. 100% of Slovakia's gas is supplied via the pipeline and they have declared a state of emergency.
posted by tracicle 15 years ago
  • Hey, thanks, Russia, the world didn't have enough going on right now with Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza, half of Africa, etc., etc. Let's go stir some shit.
  • mct has most eloquently nailed how I felt lying in bed half-asleep this am listening to this news item. isn't there already enough fuel on the fire?? aren't we already on the brink of partying like it's 2009?? this is not very encouraging of my valiant, on-going 'no alcohol on weeknights' policy :P
  • Keep it up, Medusa! (I've found that switching off the news, while making me feel more isolated and uninformed, does make me feel happier about living my life.) This...is crazy. Apparently it's because there was some dispute over payment. Um, but hi, repercussions much? It sounds like Putin, being the power-mad absolutist dude that he is, wants to make sure they know he's not bluffing. By freezing several countries. How about just sending a debt collection agency or repossessing their HDTV or something?
  • There's a lot of Russian unhappiness with the Ukrainian government dating back to at least the Orange Revolution and this is another (despicable) play in their ongoing set-to. Not going to pretend to recall all the details but there's definitely been some foolishness from the Ukrainians too, not that any of it could possibly excuse this collective punishment likely to kill a fair few old and vulnerable people.
  • Yup, way to piss off most of the Europeans. I gotta admit, politicians today really know how to screw the other guy.
  • Great timing with the cold wave that just hit central and eastern Europe.
  • I suppose that we could call cutting off gas supplies during this cold wave a Cold War.