“Because of Ukraine’s continued refusal to extend these agreements, Gazprom has been deprived of the technical and legal ability to supply gas for transportation through Ukraine since January 1, 2025. Russian gas supplies for transportation through Ukraine stopped at 8 a.m. Moscow time,” Gazprom announced, according to TASS News Agency.
Logo of Gazprom Gas Group
Gazprom pointed out that five-year gas transportation agreements with the Ukrainian company Naftogaz on cooperation between Russian and Ukrainian gas transportation system operators expired on January 1. This agreement provides for the transportation of 40 billion m3 Russian gas blocks pass through Ukraine every year.
Russia has transported about 15 billion m3 gas through Ukraine to Europe in 2023, down from 65 billion m3 when the last 5 contracts start in 2020.
“We have stopped transshipment of Russian gas. This is a historic event. Russia is losing its market, they will suffer financial losses. Europe has made the decision to abandon Russian gas” , Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko emphasized in a statement today, according to Reuters.
The Ministry of Energy of Ukraine also emphasized that the transportation of Russian gas through Ukraine “has been stopped in the interests of national security”.
Stopping the above gas transit will cause Gazprom to lose nearly $5 billion in gas sales, while Ukraine will not receive about $800 million/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 campaign in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Ukraine was determined not to extend the agreement amid the military conflict.
Russia is still exporting gas through the TurkStream pipeline in 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 dependence on Russian energy after military conflict broke out in Ukraine in 2022 by looking for alternative sources. The remaining buyers of Russian gas through Ukraine such as Slovakia and Austria have also arranged alternative supplies.
Moldova was one of the countries most severely affected when gas transit from Russia through Ukraine stopped. Moldova said it would need to introduce measures to reduce gas use by a third.
There is currently no information on the EU’s reaction to the above developments.
