Warsaw: Poland on Friday resumed gas deliveries to war-torn Ukraine, its state-owned pipeline operator said, following a brief interruption brought on by slashed supplies.
Poland stopped sending the daily four million cubic metres of gas to Ukraine on Wednesday, accusing Russian's Gazprom of only delivering 45 per cent of its gas order that day.
The allegations came as tensions run high between the two countries over the bloody conflict in Ukraine, where Warsaw has supported Kiev in its battle against pro-Russian separatists in the east.
Today, Poland's Gaz-System said Gazprom had sent it more gas yesterday than in the previous 24 hours.
"But the delivered amount remains lower than what Poland ordered and is at the level of volumes from early September," Gaz-System spokeswoman Malgorzata Polkowska told AFP.
Another of Ukraine's supplies, Slovakia, meanwhile said today it continued to observe a 10-per cent cut in its gas deliveries from Russia.
Poland's PGNiG gas utility first observed a cut in deliveries on Monday. But Gazprom denied cutting supplies to Poland, insisting daily deliveries remained stable at 23 billion cubic metres.
The implication was that Poland increased its order amount but Gazprom delivered the same volume as before.
PGNiG president Mariusz Zawisza confirmed today that Poland had upped its order over the last few days, saying it was in line with the terms of its contract with Gazprom.
He added that there was no need for panic.
"The fact that deliveries over the last three days were lower doesn't mean that we're facing a cataclysm. This is just an incident," he told the Polish news agency PAP.
He added that Gaz-System had requested compensation from the Russian gas giant for the deficit in deliveries.
Poland is highly dependent on Russian gas. Of the 16 billion cubic metres it consumes annually, over 60 per cent is imported, mainly from Russia.
It is also among several Gazprom clients in the EU, including Slovakia and Germany's RWE, that have pumped gas to Ukraine after Moscow cut supplies in June over unsettled debt.
The "reverse flow" transfers have angered the Kremlin.
