An agreement that guaranteed gas flows for nearly three years during the war expired Wednesday, halting gas supplies. Less gas was already being transported to Europe via Ukraine on Tuesday.
The European Commission has stressed that Europe is prepared for this. The supply of natural gas is “flexible”. And gas that does not come from Russia is routed to central and eastern Europe via other supply routes.
Ukraine confirmed that the transit was stopped in the interests of “national security”. “We have stopped the transit of Russian gas. This is a historic event,” Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said in a statement.
Alternative deliveries arranged
The few remaining buyers of Russian gas, such as Slovakia and Austria, have now arranged alternative supplies. Market experts therefore do not expect gas prices to rise significantly. Stopping the gas flow would be of great geopolitical importance.
Russia shipped about 15 billion cubic meters of gas through Ukraine last year, just 8 percent of peak Russian gas flows to Europe via various routes in 2019. The country has sharply increased its gas exports to other countries, especially China and India, in recent years.
Until Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Gazprom supplied 40 percent of the EU’s gas needs. After that, many countries abandoned Russian gas.
Russia continues to export gas through the TurkStream pipeline on the bottom of the Black Sea.
