Gas crisis hits Balkans

By Anna Mudeva

SOFIA (Reuters) - All supplies of Russian gas via Ukraine to Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece and Macedonia were halted on Tuesday, officials in Sofia said, prompting emergency measures and the closure of two Bulgarian fertilizer producers.

Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler confirmed that supplies to his country from a western pipeline passing through Ukraine had been completely cut as a result of the Moscow-Kiev gas row.

Also affected was Romania, where Russian gas supplies were reduced by 75 percent from contracted levels, the state-controlled Transgaz pipeline operator said.

"We are facing a serious gas crisis, in which Bulgaria is a victim of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine," Bulgaria's Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said after an emergency meeting of government officials to discuss the situation.

He said no one had warned Bulgaria, which relies almost entirely on Russian gas for its needs, about the possible suspension in flows.

State gas monopoly Bulgargaz told industrial users it was suspending or cutting gas supplies to a minimum and urged them to switch to alternative fuels such as oil. Fertilizer producers Neochim and Agropolychim said they were forced to halt production.

Russia Monday ordered a reduction in gas flows to Europe via Ukraine, a measure it said was to stop its neighbourfrom stealing fuel. Ukraine said the move would jeopardise supplies to Europe, which is facing freezing temperatures.

The gas row has raised new questions about Russia's reliability as an energy supplier and rekindled Western suspicions -- still fresh after Russia's war with Georgia last year -- that the Kremlin bullies its pro-Western neighbours.