(ANSA-AFP) - BRUSSELS, SEP 30 - EU ministers on Friday agreed cuts to peak-hour power consumption and windfall levies on energy companies in an urgent effort to bring down sky-high energy prices. The decision, announced by the Czech Republic in its role holding the EU presidency, aims to mitigate energy costs sent soaring by Russia's war in Ukraine and as the northern hemisphere winter looms. European households and businesses are already staggering under surging energy bills, fuelling record inflation that in the eurozone has hit 10 percent. Extra drama has been injected with several unexplained leaks this week of Russia-Germany undersea gas pipelines, Nord Stream 1 and 2, that were widely seen as "sabotage". The EU ministers' agreement came a day after Germany -- the bloc's export powerhouse that had long been dependent on Russian gas -- announced a 200-billion-euro (about $200 billion) energy aid package to shield its consumers. (ANSA-AFP).