Gazprom says to cut gas to Georgia from Jan 1

MOSCOW, Dec 22 (Reuters) Russia said on Friday it was cutting gas to Georgia from the start of next year, raising the prospects of cuts to its other neighbours and to Europe.

Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said in a statement Georgia had snubbed it in talks about supplies and called Gazprom's request to double payments for gas ''unacceptable'' and ''politically motivated''.

''Gazprom views Georgia's position as a refusal to buy Russian gas in 2007,'' Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said in a statement. ''It means we will cut gas supplies from January 1,'' said another spokesman for the gas monopoly.

The statement came one day after Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili returned from Turkey, where he was seeking to save his country from a gas crisis by persuading Ankara to allow it to bite into its quota of gas from Azerbaijan.

Saakashvili has yet to disclose the results of his visit.

Gazprom wants Georgia to double payments to 0 per 1,000 cubic metres, a demand that comes amid rocky political relations between the Kremlin and Georgia's pro-Western leadership.

A similar gas pricing dispute last year led to massive cuts of Russian supplies to Ukraine in January and reduced gas transit to Europe, prompting some European leaders to question the continent's reliance on Russia as its top supplier.

This year, Gazprom also has a similar gas pricing dispute with Belarus, which serves as a transit route for Russian gas to Poland and Germany.

REUTERS SBA RAI2127