Gas Supplies Cut to Russian Regions The Associated Press, Sat 30 Sep 2000 Email this story to a friend Print this story MOSCOW (AP)  Russians huddled in parkas indoors and ate cold meals in a Siberian city and a southern province Saturday after natural gas utility turned off the tap because of debts.

Residents of the Siberian city of Omsk told Russia's state-connected ORT television that they looked forward to riding public transport because it was the warmest place in town. One old woman wrapped in scarves heated tea on an old overturned iron because her gas stove doesn't work.

Store managers said demand for electric heaters, stoves and teapots had spiked since the gas was shut off. Independent NTV television said talks between city officials and natural gas monopoly Gazprom on resuming gas and fuel oil supplies had stalled.

Gas supplies have also been cut sharply to the entire southern region of North Ossetia. Kazbek Karginov, first deputy premier of the province, urged Gazprom to reschedule the debts before winter sets in, the ITAR-Tass news agency said.

Earlier this month, an electrical utility cut off power to a strategic missile base for unpaid bills, panicking top government officials.

The cutoffs highlight Russia's chronic web of nonpayment, in which large companies and government agencies don't pay cash for energy, raw materials and taxes  a habit that economists say drags down the economy.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 30, 2000

Answers

Just a reminder. Don't forget to pay your gas bils.:)

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 30, 2000.

That does serve as a good reminder, doesn't it?

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), September 30, 2000.

Don't you suppose non-payment of bills also makes good cover for inability to deliver. Early this year news stories were abundant about Gazprom's shorting its export customers, due to inability to fulfill contracts.

-- QMan (qman@c-zone.net), September 30, 2000.