Ukraine Halts Russian Gas Transit to Europe
X/ @newvisionwire
January 1, 2025 Hour: 8:01 am
This decision means a cost of 40 to 50 billion euros for European households and businesses in gas prices alone.
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian Energy Ministry confirmed that its country stopped the transit of Russian natural gas to Europe following the expiration of a five-year transportation agreement.
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“In the interests of national security, the transportation of Russian natural gas through the territory of Ukraine was stopped,” the Energy ministry said, adding that the Ukrainian gas transportation system has been prepared in advance to operate in a zero transit mode, ensuring reliable gas supply to Ukrainian consumers.
On the same day, Russian energy giant Gazprom said that it has stopped gas supply for transit through Ukraine due to expiration of key agreements and the lack of renewal by the Ukrainian side.
The gas transit agreement between Ukraine’s state-run energy company Naftogaz and Russia’s gas giant Gazprom, which was signed in December 2019, expired on Tuesday. Last year, Ukraine transported 15.43 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Europe, up 5.7 percent from 2023.
On Wednesday, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico said that the interruption of Russian gas supplies through Ukraine will have a significant economic impact on the European Union (EU).
“The interruption of gas transit through Ukraine will have severe consequences for all of us in the EU, but not in the Russian Federation,” he said in his New Year’s message.
Earlier, Fico sent an open letter to the European Council President Antonio Costa and the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, with a study by the company Slovak Gas Industry (SPP) on the financial impact of the interruption of Russian gas supplies through Ukraine.
The closure of the Druzhba will increase the price of gas on the Dutch and German stock markets by 10-12 euros per megawatt hour (MWh). This difference will be also reflected in the increase in gas prices, from around 35 to 45 EUR/MWh.
With European annual gas consumption reaching around 4 billion MWh, the SPP study concludes that the closure of transit through Ukraine “means an additional cost of 40 to 50 billion euros for European households, businesses and public infrastructure in gas prices alone.”
teleSUR/ JF Sources: Xinhua – EFE
