Europe Up As Russia Turns Off The Taps - by Javier Espinoza
European stocks made a worthy start to 2009 on Friday as shares climbed higher in the first trading session of the year, even as Russia turned off the gas taps to Ukraine and fresh economic data from the euro zone pointed to contractions in manufacturing.Russian state-run energy firm Gazprom (other-otc: OGZPY - news - people ) halted gas supplies to Ukraine at 10 a.m. on Thursday after talks over payment arrears and gas prices in 2009 broke down on New Year's Eve. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has said he wants to resume talks with Moscow, and that a compromise with Gazprom was achievable by Jan. 7.
The supply disruption has yet to affect Western Europe, as energy firms in Germany, France and Italy have not yet seen any drop in supply. Analysts say Europe has enough gas stockpiled to manage without Russian gas for several days, though not weeks.
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