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Russia threatens European gas supplies

Europe's supply of natural gas is under threat as the standoff between Russia and Ukraine's energy companies continues.

Turkey, Greece, Macedonia and Bulgaria have seen their supplies from Europe cut off completely while other countries including Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Poland have all seen reductions.

It follows the ongoing row between Ukrainian gas firm Naftogaz and Russia state energy giant Gazprom over pricing for 2009 supplies.

Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller, who said on Sunday Naftogaz was taking an "irresponsible stance in relation to Ukrainian consumers", received the nod to begin restricting supplies from Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin yesterday.

Naftogaz said "all claims" from European countries affected "must be directed to Gazprom".

The Russian firm says Naftogaz has been siphoning off energy supplies from the pipeline running through its territory, which supplies roughly one-fifth of Europe's gas.

Ukraine denies this claim but there are now fears its resistance will result in further cuts as temperatures across the continent remain below zero in many areas.

The disruption mirrors a similar confrontation which took place in 2006. That resulted in halted supplies and affected countries as far west as France.

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