Gazprom Says Italian Shortfall to Be Rectified by the Weekend

Gazprom's Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev has said that Gazprom expects to rectify a shortfall in supply to Italy by the end of this weekend.

The shortfall saw exports from Russia to Italy fall by ten per cent. Increased demand for gas, as caused by severely cold weather conditions across Europe and particularly in Russia, has been blamed for the decrease in supply.

The news of the rectification comes from Italian energy company Eni's head of communications, Gianni Di Giovanni.

Speaking on Italian TV, Mr. Di Giovanni said that Gazprom had assured the company that normal service would resume by the end of the week, Reuters reports.

The news is likely to come as a relief to Italy which was forced to implement emergency contingency plans to deal with the drop in supply. Yesterday, the Italian government sanctioned the use of six oil-fired power plants to reduce gas use in the country as temperatures continued to reach unseasonably cold levels.

"The situation is rather critical as Russia and France reduced supplies," Development Minister Corrado Passera said to reporters in Milan where temperatures had reached -10 degrees Celsius.

Reuters reports that Italy will take 94.2 million cubic metres of gas today, contrary to requested import volumes of 108.3 million cubic metres. Mr. Di Giovanni said yesterday that supply levels from Gazprom were beginning to rise again after the shortages.

The situation has caused power outages across Italy,with 59,000 households left with power and 17 people dead from the cold.