Decades-old snowfall record broken in Sweden

While Nordic Noir may be all the rage as a dramatic genre, it refers to a mood, a style, not the colour. In the winter, Scandinavia is anything but black. Snow is guaranteed to fall every year.

This year even more so; a 50 year old snowfall record has just been broken in the northern Swedish city of Lulea, which sits just 109km south of the Arctic Circle.

While heavy snow in February is not unusual in Lulea, on Tuesday, the city airport measured 113cm, breaking the previous record, from 1966, by 2cm.

The month started with 83cm on the ground but 20cm more fell on the first day of February and 10cm more on the following day.

This was at the end of a week when Scandinavia was under the winter storm centre around which all of Europe’s weather seemed to circulate.

Still, a Swedish record from 1926 stands; on February 28 that year, a snow depth of 327cm was measured in Kopparasen, north of the Arctic Circle.

It's about to warm up now throughout Scandinavia. Lulea has been near its average daytime high of minus 10C but will be up to 0 Celsius for the weekend, and a few days beyond, and with a bit more snow.
  aljazeera.com
5/2/15
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Russia to lift discount for shipments of natural gas to Ukraine

The discount of $100 on the purchase of one thousand cubic meters of Russian natural gas that Russia provided to Ukraine as part of the "winter package" will be lifted from April 1, 2015, the head of Gazprom, Alexei Miller said at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

The conditions of the winter package will remain in effect till the end of March, and from April 1, the discount that was provided by the Government of the Russian Federation, will cease to have effect. From April 1, gas supplies to Ukraine will be carried out strictly in accordance with the contract," said Miller.

In accordance with the winter plan, the price of Russian gas for Ukraine in November-December made up 378 dollars (given the discount to the contract price of $100 per thousand cubic meters).
 http://english.pravda.ru/news/russia/20-01-2015/129561-russia_gas_ukraine-0/#.VL6NXCwYE9Q
20/1/15
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Related:

• Russian gas deliveries to Ukraine and EU uninterrupted (Ukraine's Naftogaz)

• No Reason to Revise Gas Deal With Ukraine in April (Alexander Novak, Russian EM)

• Ukraine’s Naftogaz transfers $1.65 bln to Russia’s Gazprom under Brussels agreements

• Question of gas supplies from Russia to be settled soon (Ukrainian energy minister)

• EU to Continue Financial Aid Provision for Ukraine's Gas Debt Repayment (Official)

No Reason to Revise Gas Deal With Ukraine in April (Alexander Novak, Russian EM)

Russia sees no reason to reach a new agreement on gas deliveries to Ukraine after the so-called 'winter package' deal expires at the end of March, as all the terms are already outlined in the existing contract between Gazprom and Naftogaz, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Wednesday.

"We are talking about current deliveries schedule and the financing regime, in other words — about conditions that have been, in one way or another, stipulated in the existing contract [betwen Rusia's Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftogaz]," Novak said following talks Maros Sefcovic, the Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of the Energy Union.

"So far, we see no reason to sign a new document," Novak said.
[sputniknews.com]
14/1/15
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Related:

• Gazprom concerned over Ukraine’s possible siphoning off of Russian gas

• Vicepresidente de la Comisión Europea no prevé cortes de tránsito de gas ruso a Europa ...

• Gas contracts with EU provide for no gas re-export options (Alexander Novak, Russian EM) 

• Question of gas supplies from Russia to be settled soon (Ukrainian energy minister)

• Kiev Agrees With IMF to Pay for Russian Gas During Winter Period From Own Exchange Reserve

Ukraine’s Naftogaz transfers $1.65 bln to Russia’s Gazprom under Brussels agreements

Ukraine’s Naftogaz has transferred 1.65 billion U.S. dollars to Russia’s Gazprom as repayment its gas debts, Naftogaz said on Wednesday.

Thus, in line with the agreements reached in Brussels, Naftogaz has paid 3.1 billion U.S. dollars in two tranches to pay for 11.5 billion cubic metres of gas supplied by Gazprom in November-December 2013 and April-June 2014. The first tranche of 1.45 billion U.S. dollars was transferred on November 4.

In October, Gazprom and Naftogaz reached an agreement to resume Russian gas supplies to Ukraine on condition Naftogaz repays its 3.1 billion U.S. dollar debt. In early December, Naftogaz made an advance payment for gas supplies in December.
[itar-tass.com]
24/12/14
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Related:

• Russia to Halt Gas Sales to Ukraine if Kiev Fails to Repay $1.65Bln

• Question of gas supplies from Russia to be settled soon (Ukrainian energy minister)

• EU to Continue Financial Aid Provision for Ukraine's Gas Debt Repayment (Official)

• Kiev Agrees With IMF to Pay for Russian Gas During Winter Period From Own Exchange Reserve

Russia to Halt Gas Sales to Ukraine if Kiev Fails to Repay $1.65Bln

Russia will stop gas sales to Ukraine if Kiev fails to repay $1.65 billion of its gas debt to Russia, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Tuesday.

"Under the agreement, there will be no supplies in January if the debt of $1.65 billion remains unsettled," the minister said.

Novak said the price of Russian gas for Ukraine is estimated to range between $340 and $360 per 1,000 cubic meters in the first quarter of 2015.

"Our [previous] discussions in the month of October were based on price forecast of $360. At the moment, the price may be lower… I think, [it will be at] $340-$360," he said.

The Minister said that after the discount of $100 per 1,000 cubic meters, granted by Russia's Gazprom to Ukraine's Naftogaz, expires on April 1, the price of Russian gas to Ukraine will amount to about $440. According to Novak, Moscow is ready to consider a request for a new discount, but so far Ukrainian authorities have not asked for it.

After a six-month break, Russia resumed gas sales to Ukraine on December 9. A temporary agreement between Moscow and Kiev, in force during the cold season, stipulates that Ukraine should repay $3.1 billion of its $5.3-billion gas debt.

Ukraine's state-run oil and gas company Naftogaz repaid $1.45 billion of its gas debt to Gazprom in early December and allocated $378 million as prepayment for future supplies of 1 billion cubic meters of gas.

On Monday Ukrainian Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchishin told journalists that Ukraine so far has purchased some 300 million cubic meters of Russian gas under the so-called "winter package."

On the same day in an interview on Rossiya-24 television Novak expressed hope that Russia and Ukraine will continue their cooperation in gas deliveries even after the ten-year contract on gas transit and supply between Gazprom and Naftogaz expires in 2019.
 [sputniknews.com]
23/12/14
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Related:

•  Gashandel: Kiew zögert mit Schuldentilgung – Moskau droht Lieferstopp an ...

• Si Ucrania no paga la deuda de gas de diciembre, Rusia cesará los suministros ... 

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• Question of gas supplies from Russia to be settled soon (Ukrainian energy minister)

• EU to Continue Financial Aid Provision for Ukraine's Gas Debt Repayment (Official)

• Kiev Agrees With IMF to Pay for Russian Gas During Winter Period From Own Exchange Reserve

Kiev Agrees With IMF to Pay for Russian Gas During Winter Period From Own Exchange Reserve

Kiev has agreed with International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it will pay for Russian gas during the winter period from Ukraine's exchange reserves, the country's national bank said.

"We managed to agree with IMF that the payments for the gas can be made from our own exchange reserves and IMF will support us. That is why we are confident we can support all the payments to Gazprom on the recent gas agreement," the Head of Ukraine's National Bank Valeriia Gontareva said at the press briefing.
Earlier on Monday, Ukraine's Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan told RIA Novosti that Kiev has not yet paid for Russian gas, but aims to do so in the near future...................http://en.ria.ru/business/20141103/195047378/Kiev-Agrees-With-IMF-to-Pay-for-Russian-Gas-During-Winter-Period.html3/11/14
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Related:

• Russia Ukraine and EU agree gas supply deal (Günther H. Oettinger /EC)

• Settlement of remaining Ukraine debt to be discussed after Stockholm arbitration decision ...