Gazprom Threatens To Cut Gas To Georgia

Gazprom's threat raises the prospect of a repeat of scenes in January 2006, when Georgians queued for gas following explosions on the pipeline from Russia (epa) November 7, 2006 -- The head of Gazprom says Russia's gas monopoly could halt supplies to Georgia if Tbilisi does not agree a deal on new gas prices for 2007 by the end of this year.

Aleksandr Medvedev said today Georgia could offer assets in exchange for lower prices.

Gazprom has demanded that Georgia pay $230 per 1,000 cubic meters in 2007, up from $110 now.

Georgia says the proposed price is political.

(Interfax, Reuters)

Moscow And Tbilisi

Russian military hardware being withdrawn from a Russian base in Batumi, Georgia, in August 2005 (TASS)

WHAT COMES NEXT? Although Russia is unlikely to push an aggressive military response to the current tensions with Georgia, it has a number of economic, political, and diplomatic options at its disposal. Already on October 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin summoned his inner circle to weigh Moscow's options... (more)

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MORE: Coverage of the situation in Georgian from RFE/RL's Georgian Service and in Russian from RFE/RL's Russian Service.