Barroso - pictured here with US President Barack Obama and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt (L) at the US-EU Summit in Washington, 03 November 2009 - has warned Ukraine over a new Russian gas crisis. Photo by EPA/BGNES
The President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, has called upon Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko to avert any delays in his country’s payment for Russian gas supplies.
Barroso’s warning aimed at preventing a new gas crisis between Russia and the Ukraine like the one in January 2009 comes a day after the Ukrainian state company Naftogaz said it was facing financial difficulties.
The EC President has warned Yushchenko over the phone, a Commission spokesperson announced as quoted by BGNES. Barroso is concerned that the IMF program for financial aid for Ukraine might fail to be realize which could affect the economic stability of the country.