Moscow, March 4 (Interfax) – Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom has announced that ithad reduced gas exports to Ukraine by another 25% and that it might cut them further if Ukraine does not resume talks with the company.”Not only has the deadlock in the negotiations not been broken, there have not even been any more negotiations. Our Ukrainian counterparts have not come to Moscow. The only response from them has been a press release that in effect says that the Naftogaz Ukrainy company may start unsanctioned consumption of gas from volumes designated for European customers. For this reason, gas supplies for Ukrainian customers have been reduced by another 25% as of this moment, as we warned before,” Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told reporters on Tuesday.Amounts of gas passing through the Sudzha gas measuring station had been slashed by 27 million cubic meters per day and volumes passing through the Valuiki station by 8 million cubic meters a day, he said.”If the Ukrainian side does not return to the negotiating table, I cannot rule out the possibility of a decision to carry through another reduction of supplies,” Kupriyanov said.

Wine tasting, anyone?

With the winter swiftly approaching and Kyiv getting less cozy day after day, even a weekend getaway to normally sunnier, warmer Crimea has less appeal than usual. The chilly winds sweeping the peninsula this time of the year are likely to prevent travelers from spending too much time outside – until they stop to consider the option of tasting Crimean wine deep inside the earth.

Continue reading ‘Winemakers’ reveal their secrets deep below Inkerman’