Russian gas to Europe stops flowing after Ukraine refuses to renew pipeline deal
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Russia halted natural gas flows to Europe via Ukraine, as Kyiv’s refusal to extend a pipeline deal brought an end to one of the last remaining energy links between Russia and what was once its biggest market. A gas transit deal using Soviet-era pipelines crisscrossing Ukraine expired at the end 2024.
Ukraine had said it wouldn’t extend the deal because it was providing revenues that helped Moscow conduct its war in Ukraine. Russian gas exporter Gazprom said it halted flows in the early morning hours of the new year as the deal expired. “Due to the Ukrainian side’s repeated and explicit refusal to extend these agreements, Gazprom was deprived of the technical and legal opportunity to supply gas for transit," the company said Wednesday.
Ukraine hailed the halt to the flow of Russian gas, saying it would strike a blow against its enemy. “This is a historical event. Russia is losing markets, it will suffer financial losses," Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko said.
The end of the deal, brokered by the European Union in 2019, was long expected and will have limited impact on Europe’s gas supplies—unlike earlier in the conflict when Russian gas stoppages upended European gas markets and unleashed a price surge for consumers and factories. Europe has dramatically reduced its reliance on Russian gas. Moscow used to supply as much as 45% of the EU’s imports before the war, but that share fell to 15% in 2023.
Russia still exports pipeline gas to Europe via Turkey, selling to customers such as Hungary and Serbia, and it sends liquefied natural gas via ships. The Ukrainian transit link covered about 5% of the EU’s total imports. Europe has long prepared for the end of the Ukraine deal,
. Read more on livemint.com
