VIENNA, Jan 6: Several European countries were in crisis mode on Tuesday after their imports of Russian gas were cut sharply, with Bulgaria resorting to rationing supplies to industry amid arctic winter temperatures.

Bulgarian Economy and Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov said the row between Russia and Ukraine at the source of the problems had plunged his country, which is almost entirely dependent on Russia for its gas, into a “state of crisis.” And Slovakia, which is 98 per cent dependent on Russia for natural gas, declared “a state of energy emergency” after Russian gas supplies to the country fell by 70 per cent overnight.

The Slovak government “will send a protest to Ukraine and Russia, asking them to resolve their commercial dispute and not to take Europe hostage,” Economy Minister Lubomir Jahnatek told at a news conference.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev said: “It is not right to hold Bulgaria and the other countries in the region hostage to this conflict.” Bulgaria “always paid our bills and observed our contracts and expects the same from the other side”.

The state-owned gas monopoly said it would introduce gas “rationing” for industry, supplying gas only when it was vital for plant safety.

Elsewhere in the region, there were sharp falls in gas deliveries but governments said they had sufficient gas reserves for the time being.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said: “I wouldn’t consider the situation critical (...) gas storages are still full.” A spokesman for the gas importing company RWE Transgas said that Russian gas deliveries to the Czech Republic would fall by 75 per cent on Tuesday from the agreed volume.

In Croatia, which receives its Russian natural gas through pipelines from Austria, officials said deliveries had ceased completely.

Croatia produces about 60 per cent of the natural gas it needs itself, but the remaining 40 per cent is imported from Russia.

Further southeast in Macedonia, Economy Minister Fatmir Besimi told AFP that “the delivery of gas to Macedonia has stopped.” However, Macedonia’s government was not expecting “any serious consequences” in the near future as the country “generally does not use much gas,” Besimi said.Separately Bosnia, which gets all of its gas from Russia, delivered via pipelines across Ukraine and Hungary announced its supplies were reduced by one half.

Officials in Serbia, which like Bosnia also receives its Russian gas through Hungary, were unreachable on Tuesday, the eve of the Orthodox Christmas public holiday.

On Monday, the national gas company Srbijagas said there were sufficient supplies in Serbia, but warned of a possible reduction and for companies to prepare to use alternative sources of energy.

In Slovenia, the national gas supplier Geoplin said supplies were down by as much as 90 per cent earlier on Tuesday, even if the situation had since improved slightly.

Geoplin was in talks with Russian partner Gazprom, said company chief Alojz Stana, adding that the company would tap into its reserves “to ensure a continued supply to its customers.” Austria, which has one of the biggest gas platforms in Europe, was due to receive just 10 per cent of its normal gas deliveries, according to oil giant OMV.

Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner called a meeting of the country’s “energy steering committee” — which convenes at times of looming supply bottlenecks — for Wednesday, Tuesday being a public holiday in Austria.

The 30-man strong committee, which is made up of experts from the economy, infrastructure, finance, agricultural and foreign ministries, as well as representatives from the regulatory authorities, and the oil and gas industries, would address mainly industrial concerns.

The minister insisted, however, that household supplies would be guaranteed for at least three months.

The current dispute underlines the importance of the EU-backed Nabucco gas pipeline project, the project’s chief said.

“In view of current developments, diversification of sources and routes is becoming increasingly importance,” said Reinhard Mitschek.

“That’s why Nabucco is now more important than ever,” he said.

Nabucco is a 3,400-kilometre (2,112-mile) pipeline between Turkey and Austria that will transport up to 31 billion cubic metres of gas each year from the Caspian Sea to Western Europe.

It has so far proved slow-moving with the necessary approvals and agreements between the countries concerned still to be signed.—AFP