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Russian natural gas exports via Soviet-era pipelines running through Ukraine to Europe were halted in the early hours of New Year’s Day as a transit deal expired and warring Moscow and Kyiv have failed to reach an agreement to continue the flows.
The shutdown of Russia’s oldest gas route to Europe ends a decade of fraught relations sparked by Russia’s seizure of Crimea in 2014. Ukraine stopped buying Russian gas the following year.
“We stopped the transit of Russian gas. This is a historic event. Russia is losing its markets, it will suffer financial losses. Europe has already made the decision to abandon Russian gas,” Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko said in a statement.
The stoppage of gas flows was expected amid the war, which started in February 2022. Ukraine has been adamant it would not extend the deal amid the military conflict.
According to an industry source, Gazprom last year assumed the absence of the gas transit via Ukraine, which accounted for roughly a half of Russia’s total pipeline gas exports to Europe.
Russia still exports gas via the TurkStream pipeline on the bed of the Black Sea. TurkStream has two lines – one for the Turkish domestic market and the other supplying central European customers including Hungary and Serbia.
The European Union redoubled its efforts to reduce its dependence on Russian energy after the outbreak of the military conflict in Ukraine in 2022 by seeking alternative sources.
The remaining buyers of Russian gas via Ukraine such as Slovakia and Austria have also arranged alternative supply.
Moldova, once part of the Soviet Union, is among the countries worst affected. It says it will now need to introduce measures to reduce its gas use by a third.
