Ukraine stops natural gas transit to Europe

Russian natural gas

Ukraine stops natural gas transit to Europe

The transit of Russian gas through Ukraine has been completely stopped for the first time. For a long time, Kiev continued to channel energy into the EU despite Moscow’s war of aggression. Now an era is ending.

As announced, the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe has been completely stopped since New Year’s morning. This was announced by the Russian gas company Gazprom. The Ukrainian transit network operator GTS also confirmed that the network works without Russian gas. The EU, Slovakia and Austria said they had prepared for the stop. The gas supply is secured.

Ukraine decided to stop transit in order to cut off Russia from further income, which the Kremlin also uses to finance its war of aggression against the neighboring country. Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko described the transit stop as a “historic event.” “Russia is losing markets, it will suffer from financial losses,” the minister said.

The Russian gas company Gazprom said that after the leadership in Kiev did not extend the transit contract, it had no legal or technical options to pump gas through Ukraine. The filling was therefore stopped at 6:00 a.m. (CET).

The Ukrainian transit network operator GTS also announced that Russian gas had no longer been passed through the network since morning. “The transport of natural gas from the Sudzha entry point on Ukraine’s eastern border to the exit points on the western and southern borders has been terminated,” it said.

Slovakia will no longer receive Russian gas via this line. The EU and NATO country, which borders Ukraine, protested massively against Kiev’s decision. The left-wing populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, whom critics accuse of having a pro-Russian stance, had threatened to stop electricity deliveries from Slovakia to Ukraine. Since the Ukrainian electricity grid was separated from the Russian and Belarusian ones at the start of the war, Slovakia has been one of the five neighboring countries from which Ukraine can import electricity. In his New Year’s speech, Fico simply said that Ukraine’s move harmed the entire EU, but not Russia.

A spokeswoman for the Commission in Brussels had made it clear in advance that the EU was prepared to stop the transit of Russian gas through the war-torn country. The European gas infrastructure is flexible enough to deliver gas of non-Russian origin to Central and Eastern Europe via alternative routes. For example, authoritarian Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea, which is internationally criticized for human rights violations, has increased its energy supplies.

The Slovakian government in Bratislava also declared on Tuesday that it was prepared for the stop. The gas storage facilities are 100 percent full and there are enough reserves for the new year, the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced. “I would like to reassure all people and companies in Slovakia that we are prepared for this scenario and that there is currently no risk of a gas shortage,” said Economy Minister Denisa Sakova.

Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler announced that the gas supply in Austria will be ensured even after deliveries from Russia have ended. Gas is now purchased from countries such as Germany and Italy as well as from the well-filled Austrian storage facilities. “We did our homework and were well prepared for this scenario,” said the minister. Austria was heavily dependent on Russian gas – in October, 89 percent of imports still came from this country.

Even after the supply stop, Russian gas continues to reach the EU via other routes, including the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas pipelines in the Black Sea. TurkStream, for example, not only supplies Turkey, but also the south and southeast of Europe. Moscow continues to earn billions from its gas exports to individual EU states, including Hungary. Russian energy experts recently stated that Gazprom could increase its deliveries via the lines by four to six billion cubic meters per year.

Overall, the share of Russian gas in EU imports was 18 percent in June 2024, according to a report by the EU Commission. In 2021, before the Russian attack began, it was 45 percent. Russian gas also comes to the EU by sea in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

In 2023, Norway and the USA were the EU’s most important gas suppliers, followed by Russia, according to EU data. Other suppliers included North African countries, the United Kingdom and Qatar.