* Slovaks, Hungarians, Czechs could face oil problems
* Russia's Gazprom plays down worries of a gas row
* No deal with Belarus means Poland, Germany exposed on oil
(Combines oil, gas, the EU, Slovak government)
By Gleb Bryanski and Martin Santa
MOSCOW, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Russia has warned the European
Union of oil supply cuts because of a fresh row between Moscow
and Kiev, the Slovak government said on Monday, hours after
Russia played down worries about a new gas row with Ukraine.
The Slovak Economy Ministry said Russia has warned the
European Union that Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic
could experience oil supply cuts. A European Union source said
oil stocks in those countries were adequate to withstand cuts.
Europe, which receives the lion's share of its oil and gas
needs from Russia, closely tracks Russian disputes with its
neighbours after EU gas supplies were cut in the dead of winter
in 2006 and 2009 due to disputes between Moscow and Kiev.
Another key transit state, Belarus, cut Russian oil flows to
Europe via the Druzhba pipeline in January 2007, also due to a
pricing row, which further undermined the image of Russia, the
world's top oil and gas producer, as a reliable energy supplier.
The earlier cuts occurred amid strained political relations
between Moscow and its neighbours. Ukraine will hold a
presidential election in January and analysts have said that if
a relatively pro-Russian leader is elected, Moscow is likely to
take a more accommodating stance in future energy negotiations.
On Monday, the head of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom
<GAZP.MM>, Alexei Miller, said he expected Ukraine to pay its
December gas bill in full and that he saw no repeat of gas rows
-- backtracking from remarks made last week [].
But he spoke only a few hours before the head of another
Russian monopoly -- oil pipeline company Transneft <TRNF_p.MM>
-- accused Ukrainian politicians of setting new "unacceptable"
terms for oil transit via the Black Sea port of Yuzhny.
Transneft President Nikolai Tokarev told Reuters Ukraine had
asked Russia to pay more for transit and raised additional
conditions concerning minimal volume guarantees, adding that oil
supplies would be cut if no deal was quickly reached.
"We cannot and are not accepting tough terms. The
(negotiation) process is continuing and I hope we will solve it
before the New Year. But if they insist on their terms, we will
also review the prospects of supplies," he said.
Asked about the cause of the dispute, Tokarev said: "These
are purely political issues there (in Ukraine)".
The demand for higher fees from Ukraine comes as the
International Monetary Fund has rejected Kiev's request for a $2
billion loan to help the recession-strapped country meet
financial obligations by year's end.
A senior official of Ukraine's central bank said last week
it had enough foreign currency reserves to manage its finances
until the end of the year. []
DRUZHBA PIPELINE IN FOCUS
Traders told Reuters on Friday Transneft had told them it
would scrap the initial January programme for Yuzhny consisting
of 0.5 million tonnes, in a move that would effectively damage
the Mediterranean oil market [].
Yuzhny remains the last Ukrainian port through which Russia
sends transit crude to the West after it stopped exporting crude
via another outlet, Odessa, earlier this year.
Ukraine is also a major transit route for crude flowing to
Eastern Europe via the Druzhba pipeline and Russia sent its
warning to the European Union fearing a repeat of the January
2007 dispute with Belarus.
"From the EU point of view, the early warning systems have
worked," said a EU source, referring to a recent deal under
which Russia has to warn the continent about potential supply
problems.
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> rose to above $79 a barrel on Monday,
the highest in more than a month, largely because of colder
weather across the major energy market the United States. The
tensions involving Russia provided additional support. []
The Druzhba pipeline supplies Slovakia, Hungary and the
Czech Republic via Ukraine with more than 300,000 barrels per
day of crude while another spur goes via Belarus to Germany and
Poland shipping some 800,000 bpd.
The two latter states also have no guarantees of smooth
supplies after the New Year as Moscow and Minsk struggle to
agree on volumes of duty-free Russian oil for Belarus.
[]
Russia's top energy official Igor Sechin said on Monday he
hoped the deal with Belarus would be signed on Dec. 30-31.
"If no deal is reached then we will have to apply full fees
from Jan. 1," he told reporters.
In 2007, Minsk suspended supplies along Druzhba after
failing to clinch a deal on crude supplies for its domestic
plants and agreeing on fees.
(Additional reporting by Luke Baker; writing by Dmitry
Zhdannikov, editing by Anthony Barker)
