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Russia Gives Cold Shoulder

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 8, 2009

SOFIA - Bulgarian schoolchildren bundled in wool coats sang songs to keep warm in their bitterly cold classroom. Bosnians drove hours to snap up electric heaters. And in Serbia, millions woke up to the Eastern Orthodox Christmas under the threat of hardship.

Russia's decision to cut gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine on Wednesday hit the Balkans hard as a deep freeze descended on much of the region.

Tens of thousands of households were left without heat because of a pricing dispute between Russia and Ukraine that has left more than a dozen countries with dwindling energy supplies in the coldest months of the year.

"Is this the 21st century? How can someone leave me without heating in minus 10 degrees Celsius because of a dispute I have nothing to do with?" asked Snjezana Kordic, 51, who was wrapped in blankets in her home in downtown Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital.

"We depend on the dispute between Russia and Ukraine, how silly is that?" asked 44-year-old Belgrade architect Djordje Gec.

The Associated Press

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