Naftogaz Ukrainy, Ukraine's state-run natural gas company, is "stealing" gas from underground storage facilities, and that's why some European Union states are seeing gas supplies wane, the deputy chairman of Russia's state-controlled gas monopoly, OAO Gazprom (OGZPY), said Saturday.
"Ukraine has started to steal gas...from underground storage that doesn't belong to them, and the customers for that gas were Hungary, Romania and Poland," Alexander Medvedev said.
Medvedev is in Prague to meet with Czech officials, who now head the presidency of the European Union.
Medvedev said Gazprom is making its best effort to restore full deliveries to Romania, Hungary and Poland but warned that capacity of alternate routes may not be sufficient to overcome the 35 million cubic meters daily that he claimed Naftogaz is stealing.