Russia and Ukraine bowed to pressure from the European Commission and hammered out a partial ceasefire on the gas war paving the way for a quick restart of shipments to Europe.

If deliveries resume on January 9 2009, gas will reach Bulgaria on the evening of January 11 as filling up Ukrainian pipes will take 36 hours and a further six to 12 hours for it to get to the Bulgargaz network from the Ukrainian-Romanian border.

Naftogaz head Oleh Dubyna promised MEP Vladko Panayotov of Bulgaria’s predominantly ethnic Turkish party the Movement for Rights and Freedoms that the Orlovka gas compression station, which pumps gas to the Balkans, will be the first to reopen, Bulgarian news outfit Mediapool reported.

Tensions between Moscow and Kiev eased after both countries agreed to accept international monitors to keep an eye on the gas being pumped to Europe.

Negotiations between the two countries will continue, though, to work out a new agreement on Ukrainian supplies.

As an extra precaution against future gas supply disruptions, an international committee of independent EU experts and Brussels, Moscow and Kiev representatives will be set up to monitor the transfer of Russian gas via Ukraine to Europe.

Meantime, things got worse in Bulgaria where gas fed to industrial consumers was three quarters less. Bulgartransgaz cut off 72 businesses and lowered supplies to 153 other industrial customers, said Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, adding that firms’ daily losses have spiraled off to 8.3 million leva.

However, experts said companies injured by the gas crisis had hardly any legal tools to demand compensation from state-run gas company Bulgargaz.

On the other hand, Evgenii Ivanov, executive director of the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria, said that big industrial gas users could seek damages if supplies are cut even for half a day.

Source: Dnevnik.bg