Gazprom to cut Ukraine gas supplies by 25%

Russian gas giant Gazprom will cut its supplies to ex-Soviet neighbour Ukraine by 25 per cent on Monday after talks between the two countries over gas debts ended in failure, Gazprom said in a statement on Friday.

"Considering that the situation has reached a dead end, to guarantee its own economic interests, Gazprom will reduce its gas supplies to Ukrainian consumers by 25 per cent on March 3 at 10am," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said in a statement.

"Talks with the Ukrainian side, which took place on Thursday and Friday, did not bring any results," Kupriyanov said.

The European Commission and Gazprom's European partners have been informed of the situation ahead of time, he added.

The dispute echoes a price row that led to a brief cut-off of Russian gas to Ukraine in 2006, which in turn led to supply shortages in the European Union as Ukraine is the main transit route for Russian gas to Europe.

Russian natural gas accounts for around a quarter of Ukraine's gas imports, with the rest coming from former Soviet republics in Central Asia via pipelines that go through Russia.

The rift, over debts for gas imported in 2007 and 2008, comes less than three weeks after Russia and Ukraine had claimed to have reached a deal to resolve the row. (AFP)