Russia denies oil cut motivated by politics
US-Czech deal on missile shield preceded step
BERLIN - Russia has denied that political motives are behind a sudden reduction in oil deliveries to the Czech Republic that began a day after Prague annoyed the Kremlin by signing a missile-shield agreement with the United States.
Although they mentioned "technical reasons" for the cut, Russian diplomats in Prague did not say when full supplies would be resumed, Czech officials said yesterday.
Last week, the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, visited Prague to sign a treaty allowing the Pentagon to deploy part of its antiballistic missile shield on Czech territory.
No sooner was the treaty signed than Russia announced that it would retaliate, although the Russian Foreign Ministry did not specify at the time in what form. One day later, the amount of oil sent by Russia through the Druzhba, or friendship, pipeline was reduced.
But Czech officials were careful yesterday not to suggest that the Kremlin was using its power as an energy provider to punish the country.
"The Russians said the reduction in supplies was not political," Tomas Bartovsky, a spokesman for the Czech Industry and Trade Ministry, said in an interview. "The Russian side said there were some technical reasons. They involved the restructuring of the companies involved in dealing with crude oil."
When asked to be more specific, Bartovsky said he could not; Russia did not provide any more details.
Transneft, the Russian company that sends the oil to the Czech Republic, said the reductions could be attributed to economic factors. "This has nothing to do with politics," Mikhail Barkov, vice president of the company, told the Interfax news agency. "The question is purely commercial."
Barkov also said that two Russian companies had cut supplies because they could refine crude oil in Russia on more profitable terms.
The timing of the reductions, which amount to about 15 percent of the Czech Republic's imports of oil via the friendship pipeline, raises questions about Russian motives and its credibility as a reliable exporter at a time when the European Union is struggling to adopt a common policy over energy security.
When Russia reduces or stops shipments of natural gas or oil to Europe, it is supposed to inform the European Commission under an early warning system to which it agreed 18 months ago.
The agreement came after Russia stopped deliveries to Belarus, an important transit country for Russian oil and natural gas destined for EU markets. The result was that some countries reported shortages.
Ferran Tarradellas Espuny, a spokesman for Andris Piebalgs, the EU energy commissioner, said that there had been "no need to activate the early warning system" this time.
"The commission has been in contact with the Czech side. The Czechs said they had enough reserves to last about 95 days and it has alternative sources of energy."
Russia supplies more than a quarter of the natural gas and oil used in Europe. Many countries of Eastern and Central Europe are almost completely dependent on Russian energy.
