Ukraine does not allow Russia to transit gas to Europe, calling this a historic event

Russian gas giant Gazprom announced that Gazprom was forced to stop transporting gas to Europe via Ukraine this morning, January 1, after Kyiv refused to extend its gas transit agreement with Moscow.

"Due to Ukraine's repeated refusal to extend these agreements, Gazprom has been deprived of the technical and legal ability to supply gas for transit through Ukraine since January 1, 2025. The supply of Russian gas for transit through Ukraine has stopped at 8 a.m. Moscow time," Gazprom announced, according to TASS news agency.

Logo of Gazprom Gas Corporation

Gazprom pointed out that the five-year gas transit agreement with Ukraine's Naftogaz on cooperation between Russian and Ukrainian gas transit operators expired on January 1. The agreement provided for the transit of 40 billion ^cubic meters of Russian gas via Ukraine per year.

Russia will transport about 15 billion ^cubic metres of gas via Ukraine to Europe in 2023, down from 65 billion ^{cubic metres} when the last contract began in 2020.

"We have stopped the transit of Russian gas. This is a historic event. Russia is losing its market, it will suffer financial losses. Europe has made a decision to abandon Russian gas," Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko stressed in a statement today, according to Reuters.

Ukraine's Energy Ministry also stressed that the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine "has been stopped in the interests of national security".

The above mentioned gas transit suspension will cause Gazprom to lose nearly 5 billion USD in gas sales, while Ukraine will not collect about 800 million USD/year in transit fees from Russia, according to Reuters.

The suspension of Russian gas transit through Ukraine was expected to take place after Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Ukraine has been adamant about not extending the agreement amid the military conflict.

Russia currently exports gas via the TurkStream pipeline across the Black Sea. TurkStream has two routes - one for the domestic Turkish market and the other for customers in Central Europe, including Hungary and Serbia, according to Reuters.

The European Union (EU) has stepped up efforts to reduce its dependence on Russian energy after the military conflict in Ukraine broke out in 2022 by looking for alternative sources. Other remaining buyers of Russian gas via Ukraine, such as Slovakia and Austria, have also arranged alternative supplies.

Moldova is one of the countries hardest hit by the halt in gas transit from Russia through Ukraine. Moldova says it will need to take steps to reduce its gas use by a third.

There is currently no information on the EU's reaction to the above developments.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ukraine-khong-cho-nga-trung-chuyen-khi-dot-toi-chau-au-goi-day-la-su-kien-lich-su-185250101142751194.htm