European Gas Supplies Return To Normal

Supplies to the countries closest to Ukraine, across which Russia supplies about a fifth of Europe`s gas, resumed on Tuesday afternoon.

Russian gas supplies were back to normal in most of Europe by Wednesday after being cut two weeks ago in a heated price row between Moscow and Ukraine.

Supplies to the countries closest to Ukraine, across which Russia supplies about a fifth of Europe's gas, resumed on Tuesday afternoon and had reached Russia's most distant customers by early Wednesday.

Italy and France both said their imports via Ukraine had returned to normal overnight, while Balkan countries started receiving full supplies on Wednesday morning.

"The crisis is over, the gas has come back," Bulgarian energy minister Petar Dimitrov said.

Austria, Slovakia and Hungary said on Wednesday they had started to receive gas after the prolonged cut-off forced some countries to ration supplies of the heating and power generation fuel in mid-winter.

Although supplies were healthy again, Russia's reputation as an energy supplier and Ukraine's reliability as a transit country are under intense scrutiny.

Three years after a shorter cut in supplies during a price row between Kiev and Moscow, the crisis has reminded Europe of the dangers of being too dependent on Russia for its energy.

Russia cut flows to Ukraine itself on Jan. 1 after the two sides failed to agree a 2009 supply contract. Six days later, export flows to Europe through Ukraine also ceased after Russia accused Kiev of siphoning off gas intended for export.

Ukraine denied stealing gas, and countered that Moscow was trying to blackmail European customers by halting gas supplies.