/world business
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Ukraine's government will force the company that manages its natural gas supplies to pay off its debts to Russia's Gazprom to resolve a crisis that reduced the flow of gas supplies into Ukraine and threatened to disrupt European gas supplies, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Wednesday.
Much of the gas that western Europe buys from Russia comes in pipelines that cross Ukraine.
Tymoshenko denied a report that her country would divert some of the gas that passes through the country on its way from Russia to Europe to make up for Gazprom's decision to cut Ukraine's gas supply in half because of the failure to pay.
Gazprom cut its shipments to Ukraine in half because the Ukraine company Naftogaz defaulted on paying for the commodity, the Russian gas company said Tuesday.
A Gazprom spokesman said Wednesday it had been informed by Ukraine that it was diverting some of the gas that passes through the country on its way from Russia to Europe to make up for the reduction.
Tymoshenko, in a statement released Wednesday, denied any disruption of the gas flow to Europe.
"Ukraine is a reliable partner and we do not violate our obligations a jot concerning natural gas export to the European states," she said.
The statement also said her government would pass a resolution Wednesday that "will oblige" Naftogaz to pay the past-due gas bills.
The crisis comes less than a month after the leaders of Russia and Ukraine met in Moscow and agreed in principle on a price for natural gas for 2008. Kiev also vowed to pay its 2007 gas debts.
On Tuesday, Gazprom said it was halting 25 percent of its gas deliveries beginning at 8 p.m. Moscow time (noon ET). That was in addition to a 25 percent reduction already taken Monday, the company said. E-mail to a friend 
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