Gazprom stops gas supplies to frozen Ukraine

Kiev and Moscow plunged into a new gas dispute on Thursday after Russia's Gazprom unexpectedly decided not to restart supplies, forcing Ukraine to cut usage despite freezing weather. Ukraine's state-owned energy firm Naftogaz said it would ask heating firms to use 5-10 per cent less gas for four days from Saturday. It also said it would seek compensation from Gazprom. The row threatens to open a new front in a long-running legal battle between the companies - a by-product of broader political tension following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine. It follows Wednesday's international arbitration court order for Gazprom to pay $2.56 billion to Naftogaz after weighing mutual claims and counter-claims related to gas supplies and transit. On Thursday, Gazprom said it had returned a prepayment to Ukraine and would not restart gas supplies as an additional agreement to the existing arrangements had still not been reached. It did not give further details. "Clearly, gas supplies to Ukraine's Naftogaz will not be carried out from March 1," Gazprom's deputy head Alexander Medvedev said in a statement. The decision is connected to the...