Kiev - A massive explosion in a Ukrainian pipeline
transporting Russian natural gas has left supplies to Europe
unchanged, government officials said on Friday.
The apparent accident took place in Ukraine's central Vinitsia
region. Some 30 metres of pipeline were demolished in the blast, said
Konstantin Borodin, Ukrainian Minister of Fuel and Energy.
Gas in the network would be routed through alternative pipelines
and supplies to Europe would be unaffected, he said.
Villages and businesses in the vicinity of the blast in the area
of the regional seat of Tyagun had lost gas supplies but deliveries
will begin again in five days or less, Borodin promised.
Some 22 villages and 36,000 persons have been affected by the cut-
off, the Interfax news agency reported.
The Vinitsia province saw a similar explosion in early May, also
damaging 30 metres of pipeline and leaving thousands without fuel for
cooking and heating water.
The cause of that accident was traced to a leak caused by thieves
or poor maintenance of the pipe, according to news reports. Supplies
to local consumers were restored in three days, and deliveries to
Europe were unaffected, Borodin said.
Europe receives roughly one-third of its natural gas from Russia,
most of it via pipelines crossing Ukraine.
Ukraine has seen a series of infrastructure-related accidents this
year including a massive chemical spill in the Lviv province, an oil
spill in the Sea of Azov, a gas pipe explosion in a Dnipropetrovsk
apartment building killing 17, and a coal mine explosion in Donetsk
killing 101.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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