KIEV, Dec. 28 ??“ Ukraine, the biggest shipper of Russian natural gas to the European Union, said Thursday it is ready to further increase the shipments if price dispute between Russia and Belarus causes supply disruptions Monday.

Energy and Fuel Minister Yuriy Boyko said Ukraine had already prepared its pipelines for the increased shipments. He also assured Ukrainian gas consumers that they will not be affected by the escalating dispute.

???We are able to help European customers by increasing the transit volumes that are required for stable functioning of our neighbors in the European Union,??? Boyko said.

The comment comes as a relief for Germany and Poland, the two big consumers of Russian gas, which may be first affected by the escalating dispute between Russia and Belarus.

It also suggests that Ukraine and Belarus have failed to strike an agreement over joining forces in natural gas talks as had been earlier suggested by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka.

Ukraine moves about 110 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Europe annually, which is about 75% of Russia??™s overall supplies of gas to Europe. The rest of gas is sent via Belarus.

Lukashenka has been trying to persuade Ukraine to demand steady prices of natal gas in exchange for steady supplies of its gas to European customers.

Oleksandr Chaliy, the deputy chief of staff at the Yushchenko office, said that Ukraine continues to contact Belarus officials though ???diplomatic channels.???

???The consultations were the most active during the summit of the CIS leaders in Minsk on Nov. 28,??? Chaliy said. ???We continue to hold consultations with the Belarus officials.???

Gazprom originally told Belarus to pay $230 per 1,000 cubic meters starting from January 1, 2007, up from $46.68 per 1,000 cu m this year, but Belarus rejected the offer, seeking much lower prices.

Later, Russia reduced the price to $105 per 1,000 cu m under condition that Belarus will pay for gas in cash and in shares of BelTransGaz, the state-owned gas shipment company.

Meanwhile, Ukraine recently reported that its natural gas stocks dropped by 29.7% on the year to 18 billion cubic meters as of November despite an unusually warm weather. (tl/ez)