Gazprom said Tuesday it was unable to meet a spike in requests for Russian gas brought on by a bitter cold snap in Europe, noting demand has increased by 50 percent.

"During the first week of February demand has increased by 50 percent", Gazprom export director Alexander Medvedev said during a visit to Lithuania.

"Obviously, we could not satisfy all those requests," he told journalists.

Gazprom, already dealing with a cold wave in Russia, had said it could not pump additional gas to Western Europe, after European Union officials and energy firms said the Russian giant's deliveries had dropped in nine EU nations.

On Monday flows returned to normal levels in six EU nations and were improving in Italy, Germany and Romania, according to the European Commission.

But Medvedev insisted European countries had enough reserves to avoid major problems.

"Consumers in Europe did not suffer because gas was taken from underground storage facilities and there are enough reserves for at least 30 days," Medvedev said.

The EU imports about four-fifths of its gas requirements and Russia accounts for about a third of Europe's gas imports, according to EU data.