* 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, adds
Ukraine's Sokolovsky)
By Gleb Bryanski and Martin Santa
MOSCOW, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Russia has warned the European
Union of oil supply cuts because of a dispute between Moscow and
Kiev, the Slovak government said on Monday, hours after Russia
played down worries about a new row with Ukraine over gas.
"There is an increased risk that there could be a halt in
oil supplies from January 1. 2010. Three countries of the
European Union - Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic -
would be hit most," Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said.
A European Union source said oil stocks in those countries
were adequate to withstand possible cuts. []
A Russian pipeline executive said the tension had arisen
because Ukrainian politicians were setting "unacceptable" terms
for transit of Russian oil via Ukraine's Black Sea port Yuzhny.
Ukraine moved to calm any fears of another stand-off over
energy between the two former Soviet republics on new Year's Day
like the one at the start of this year, when gas supplies were
cut and millions of European were left out in the cold.
"Within Ukraine there are no threats, no risks," said Bohdan
Sokolovsky, the energy envoy of Ukraine's President Viktor
Yushchenko, adding that Moscow's warning to the EU about a
possible oil supply halt was aimed at discrediting Kiev.
Europe, which receives much 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 rows between Moscow and Kiev.
A fifth of the EU's gas comes from Russia via pipelines
across Ukraine. Ukraine itself is reliant on gas from Russia and
has disagreed with Moscow in the past over price.
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 giant Gazprom <GAZP.MM>,
Alexei Miller, said he saw no repeat of gas rows with Ukraine,
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.
"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," Transneft's
President Nikolai Tokarev told Reuters. []
Sokolovsky said Ukraine wanted Russia to pay higher transit
fees, switch to euros from dollars and guarantee minimal supply
volumes adding that demands had been sent to Moscow in November.
The demand comes as the International Monetary Fund has
rejected Kiev's request for a $2 billion loan to help the
recession-strapped country meet obligations by year's end.
DRUZHBA PIPELINE IN FOCUS
Transneft has already told oil firms that no oil would flow
via Yuzhny in January, in a move that would effectively damage
the Mediterranean oil market [].
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 suggesting a possible 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 supply problems.
A Ukrainian source close to the oil talks said all
differences would be solved within two days. []
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 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.
For a factbox on Druzhba see []
(Additional reporting by Luke Baker in Brussels, Pavel Polityuk
and Sabina Zawadzki in Kiev, Tanya Mosolova and Vladimir
Soldatkin in Moscow; writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov, editing by
Anthony Barker)
