Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Russia Stops Supplying Gas to European Countries

On January 1, 2009, Russia stopped gas flow to the Ukraine. Not only is this affecting the Ukraine, it is affecting a lot more countries in between them. Slovakia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, and even Turkey and Greece are some that are being affected. Romania's pipeline operator said the gas has been cut by 75 percent. Gas flow the Ukraine has stopped by nearly 60 percent

Russia was warned that by doing this it would affect the rest of Europe. They're reasoning for doing this was that Ukraine hasn't paid a debt since 2005 and Russia is no longer giving something Ukraine wont pay for. Martin Riman, a Czech industry trade minister said, "The situation changed very dramatically. The amount of gas transported from Russia to Ukraine decreased and the situation of the Slovakian border is getting worse." By stopping gas flow, Russia has broken agreements and is making the European Union question Russia as a good energy supply country anymore.

I dont think Russia is fully thinking about what they are doing. they are 100% just cutting off gas and it is going to cause a lot more harm than they think. Gas is needed for heat as well and these countries were already in trouble because of the cold weather before the gas was cut off. It is also affecting countries they have no problems with. I don't understand how they think this is just affecting the Ukraine. They're gas lines go across plenty of other countries and it is hurting them. This is just another example of a very drastic action that will hurt more than it means to. They should re think what they are doing and take time to decide how to get they're money from Ukraine without hurting anyone else.

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