Russia lifts threat of oil cutoff

Bratislava, Dec 29 : Russia and Ukraine have resolved a dispute over oil transit issues, averting a disruption of oil supplies to three countries in Europe, Slovakia's industry minister said Monday.

Industry Minister Lubomir Jahnatek said he had been briefed on the agreement during a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Ivanovich Shmatko.

Earlier, Slovak Premier Robert Fico said Russia had alerted the European Union (EU) to a possible threat to oil supplies to his country and fellow EU members Hungary and the Czech republic.

At stake were supplies flowing through Ukraine via the Drushba pipeline. Unresolved oil transit issues between Russia and Ukraine, including pricing, were said to be behind the dispute.

"It's not about a shortage of oil," Fico said, "but about a bilateral dispute between two countries which are not EU members but are vitally important for Slovakia and a few other EU nations when it comes to energy supplies."

Hungary's energy ministry also confirmed that it had been informed by the EU Commission of Russia's warning there could be a bottleneck in oil deliveries via Ukraine from Jan 1.

Hungary has oil reserves sufficient for 90 days. It also gets oil via another pipeline from the Adriatic via Croatia.

In January 2009, a price dispute with Ukraine prompted Russia to halt gas supplies to Europe for several days, leaving some countries without heating during severe winter weather.