Russian gas giant Gazprom accused Ukraine on Monday of tapping about 100 million cubic meters of gas intended for European clients after the company halted gas supply to Ukraine in a grueling dispute over the gas price.

Speaking at a press conference in Moscow, Gazprom deputy chairman Alexander Medvedev said Ukraine illegally tapped about 100 million cubic meters of gas worth more than 25 million U.S. dollars following the company's cutback on gas supply to Ukraine.

"If siphoning continues on such a scale, the stolen amount will be quite significant," Medvedev said, adding his company has invited an international audit company to monitor the situation in order to provide "independent measurements, not only our documents."

Gazprom cut down exports of gas to Ukraine by 120 million cubic meters a day on Sunday after Kiev shrugged off Moscow's demand to more than quadruple the gas price.

Ukraine was buying Russian gas at 50 U.S. dollars per 1,000 cubic meters over the past year, and Gazprom has asked Ukraine to pay 230 dollars.

Responding to the Russian charge of theft, Ukrainian Fuel and Energy Minister Ivan Plachkov said Ukraine did not consume Russian gas and is instead tapping its own reserve.

"There has been no unauthorized diversion of gas. Ukraine is using its own gas -- gas from underground storages and gas from Turkmenistan in strict compliance with the signed contract," Plachkov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying in Kiev.

"Ukraine guarantees the transit of Russian gas along its territory at its own expense," he said.

But the minister added if temperatures drop to minus three or minus five degrees Celsius, Ukraine will start using Russian gas received as payment for transit fees under existing contract terms.

Gazprom provides about half the gas consumed in the European Union and 80 percent of that amount is sent through pipelines that cross Ukraine.

Some central European countries, such as Poland, Hungary and Austria, have borne the brunt of a gas cutback from Gazprom, reporting drops in gas deliveries from Russia.

EU energy officials are set to convene an emergency session on Wednesday to discuss the gas supply situation of the 25-nation bloc.

In an apparent bid to calm the Europeans who feared a gas cutback from Russia might give them a chilly start to the new year, Medvedev said his company will do everything possible to ensure gas supply to European clients.

"We will be able to adjust the system to meet export commitments in the nearest future," Medvedev said.

Source: Xinhua