Ukraine threatens to turn off gas

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s prime minister threatened on Wednesday to turn off gas supplies to industry and temporarily halt industrial production in an effort to limit consumption, as Russia increased pressure on Ukraine to stop siphoning gas intended for a freezing Europe.

Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov said such a move, which could cripple Ukraine’s already fragile economy, might be necessary to ensure that residential and other consumers are fully supplied if the cold continues.
“The population must receive gas at a full level,” Yekhanurov said. If industry “will not hear normal people’s voices, we will have to use administrative measures. The government has the tap in its hands.”

But, Volodymyr Shandra, minister for industrial politics, dismissed the idea of halting industrial production.

AP