Ukrainian PM Hits Back at Gazprom

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has hit back at Gazprom, saying Ukraine will be fine without the Russian company's gas supply or pipeline if Gazprom decides to move away from Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Gazprom spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov said that Ukraine would have no part in future gas transit.

"South Stream to full capacity, Nord Stream with additional lines and our existing capacity through Belarus and the Black Sea will reduce Ukraine’s importance for transit to zero," he told Bloomberg.

Gazprom also accused Ukraine again on Wednesday of taking gas that was not intended for it during a cold snap, with CEO Alexey Miller saying the country had siphoned of 40 million cubic metres of gas some days that was intended for other countries.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Azarov said Ukraine would be fine without Gazprom.

"Ukraine will find a way out of this situation," he told reporters. "Don’t worry about that."

The prime minister urged Gazprom to begin work on other gas transit projects if it was so sure that it was in a position to do so.

"I always say more power to you!" the Ukrainian government portal site reports him as saying. "If Russia has solved all problems: throughout hospitals have been built, all you have done, everything is good in your country - please build (pipelines). You can use our gas transportation system. But if you want to waste 20 billion euros, please, more power to you."