KIEV (Sputnik) – Ukraine's state-run oil and gas company Naftogaz said Thursday it had cut gas deliveries to Donbas because of a damaged pipeline that would be repaired when the hostilities in the area were over.
“Because the gas delivery infrastructure in the zone of hostilities was seriously damaged by shells and blasts, natural gas supplies have been suspended,” the company said.
“The resumption of gas deliveries is impossible at the moment because fighting still continues in the area.”
19 February 2015, 13:31 GMT
Naftogaz said it was ready to start repair works when its employees “get an opportunity to work at the damaged sections of the pipeline without putting their lives and health at risk.”
Experts are currently analyzing the damage and calculating losses caused by the destruction of gas transportation infrastructure.
Earlier, the two self-proclaimed southeast Ukrainian republics' leadership said Kiev had cut off the delivery pipeline into the region Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, Russian energy giant Gazprom announced a 12-million-cubic-meter increase of gas supplies to southeast Ukraine Thursday to address the region's drastic gas shortage.
