A severe cold snap in Russia has affected gas supplies to Europe.
Several countries, including Italy, Hungary and Serbia, have reported shortfalls in gas deliveries from Russia.
A spokesman for the Russian gas monopoly, Gazprom, insisted it was fulfilling its contracts with European customers but he also said it was unable to meet the demand from some countries for additional supplies.
Meanwhile, because of the cold, the Russian authorities recommended that Moscow businesses close today to save energy.
The capital's businesses were asked to send their employees home on Thursday and Friday, when the cold is expected to be particularly bitter, and to have them work on Saturday and Sunday instead.
Overnight temperatures again fell below minus 30 degrees Celsius in the capital and even lower elsewhere.
The current cold snap started when Arctic air from Siberia swept over the western 'European' part of Russia, home to most of the country's population.
Reports said 24 deaths were attributed to the freezing conditions in western Russia yesterday, with Moscow switching to a strict energy conservation regime.
Russia's Interfax news agency said 116 people had succumbed to the cold in Moscow since the end of October.
