Russia's Gazprom has threatened to cut off Ukraine from gas supplies on January 1 if the two sides fail to resolve their dispute over prices.
As most central European nations rely on Russian gas delivered via pipelines through Ukraine, a halt in supplies could also affect transit shipments and Gazprom told Central European governments it could not guarantee that gas pumped in at its end will actually make it to its destination.
But Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Romanian officials said their countries are prepared and expect no disruption. "We are in constant contact with Naftohaz Ukrainy, which operates the Ukrainian pipelines, and we have received no signals that supplies could be interrupted," said Malgorzata Przybylska, spokeswoman for Polish gas monopoly PGNiG.
Dominant Czech natural gas distributor RWE Transgas said on Friday it would guarantee domestic supplies for several weeks should the ongoing row between Russia and Ukraine escalate in a halt in imports. "RWE Transgas acts as an reliable business partner who keeps its obligations to both the Czech and European markets," RWE Transgas said in a statement sent to Reuters.
Hungarian oil and gas firm MOL said its domestic reservoirs and sources guarantee that there will be no disruption to household and communal users while even a 15 to 20 percent drop in imports could be handled without any consumption restrictions.
Romania's Economy Minister Codrut Seres said a halt of gas deliveries from Russia to Romania seemed highly unlikely. "We got a letter from Gazexport (the export arm of Gazprom) saying that they'll do the best to solve the dispute with Ukraine. They assured us that would continue to supply gas to us," Seres told Reuters.