Russian gas via Ukraine to EU nations ceases to flow

Russian gas is no longer flowing to EU states through Ukraine after the expiration of a five-year deal, closing an energy route that has existed since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991.

- ALICJA HAGOPIAN

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the move means Russia can no longer “earn billions on our blood”. His energy minister, Herman Halushchenko, confirmed yesterday that Kyiv had stopped the gas flows “in the interest of national security”.

“This is a historic event,” he wrote on the social media platform Telegram. “Russia is losing markets and will incur financial losses.”

The deal had allowed for Russian gas to travel through Ukraine’s pipeline networks into European countries, primarily Hungary, Slovakia and Austria. Its end will not cut off all Russian gas to Europe but significantly reduce it.

Gas can still travel from Russia to Europe via the Turkstream pipeline but no longer through Ukraine, cutting gas imports to the EU by around 14 billion cubic metres. The European Commission has said that this volume can be replaced by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and pipeline imports from other sources, such as Norway and the United States.

However, the impact is already being felt in parts of EU candidate country Moldova, which was getting Russian gas via Ukraine. The breakaway Russian-speaking region of Transnistria, home to around 45,000 people, cut supplies to households. “There is no heating or hot water,” said a worker at energy company Tirasteploenergo.