(12 Feb 2008) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of city street
2. Mid of building
3. Close up of gas pipeline
4. Close up of lit gas stove
5. Man taking pot out of fridge and putting it on stove
6. Close up of hand stirring soup in pot
7. Close up of fire on stove
8. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Yury Uvarov, resident:
"Everything here is based on gas. Heating, boiler, house - everything is working on gas. So if there is no other alternative, we are completely dependant on Russia. Since the New Year it is permanent tension. The same thing was last year and this one is the same."
9. Various of people in city square
10. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Anna, no surname given, resident, Vox pop:
"Definitely this situation is not pleasant and I hope that it will not touch residential properties. But I think that the government will sort it out and they will find some consensus."
11. Man reading newspaper while walking
12. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Vladimir, no surname given, resident, Vox pop:
"I think that it is the result of (Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia) Tymoshenko's intrigues. I will tell you why. All her life she spent "sitting on a pipeline". But now they deprived her of it. That's why she is trying to return it back to her sphere."
13. Wide of newspaper stand
14. Close up of magazine cover
15. Newspapers in window
16. Customer at stand
STORYLINE
While the Ukrainian President arrives in Moscow on Tuesday for talks with his Russian counterpart on the settlement of a large debt with Russia's state-controlled gas giant Gazprom, residents in Kiev are preparing themselves for the worst scenario - a humiliating prospect of a natural gas cutoff.
"Everything here is based on gas," said Yury Uvarov, one Kiev resident. "So if there is no other alternative, we are completely dependant on Russia."
Russia's state-controlled gas supplier Gazprom gave neighbouring Ukraine a reprieve of a few hours in a debt dispute, but still said it would stop sending gas to the country of 47 (m) million on Tuesday if an agreement was not reached.
The conflict is being watched nervously in European Union countries that get Russian gas through pipelines crossing Ukraine, fearing a repeat of the supply disruptions that hit during January 2006 when Russia halted gas to Ukraine for several days amid a fierce argument over price hikes.
"Since the New Year it is permanent tension. The same thing was last year and this one is the same," Uvarov said.
Anna, another Kiev resident, is more optimistic and hopes the government will be able to settle the matter.
"Definitely this situation is not pleasant and I hope that it will not touch residential properties. But I think that the government will sort it out and they will find some consensus," she said.
Kiev resident Vladimir blames the issue on Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who according to British and Russian media, in the past held private business relations with Russia's gas trading industry.
"I think that it is the result of Tymoshenko's intrigues. I will tell you why. All her life she spent "sitting on a pipeline". But now they deprived her of it. That's why she is trying to return it back to her sphere," Vladimir said.
Facing a threatened cutoff on Tuesday morning, officials of OAO Gazprom and Ukraine's natural gas company Naftogaz negotiated for several hours on Monday.
Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said the talks had been adjourned to Tuesday, and that the cutoff time was pushed back to 6 p.m. local time (1500 GMT).
Gazprom says it would cut only Russian-origin gas, and that its contracts with customers further downstream would be fulfilled.
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