Kyiv (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – On New Year, Ukraine halted Russian gas transit to Europe, ending a decade of fraught relations and marking a significant blow to both nations’ economies.
Natural gas supplies from the Russian side through Soviet-era pipelines heading via Ukraine to Europe were stopped in the early hours of New Year’s Day as a transit agreement concluded and warring Russia and Ukraine have failed to achieve an arrangement to continue the supplies. The cessation of Russia’s oldest gas path to Europe finishes a decade of fraught ties flashed by Russia’s takeover of Crimea in 2014. Ukraine halted purchasing Russian gas the following year.
In his statement, Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko said: “We stopped the transit of Russian gas. This is a historic occasion. Russia is losing its markets, it will suffer financial losses. Europe has already decided to ditch Russian gas.” Ukraine’s energy ministry also expressed that the transportation of Russian gas via Ukraine “has been halted in the interests of national security.”
On the other side, Russian state-controlled Gazprom stated in a statement: “Due to the repeated refusal of the Ukrainian side to continue these agreements, Gazprom was deprived of the technical and legal ability to supply gas for transit via the territory of Ukraine from January 1, 2025.” “Beginning from 08:00 Moscow time (0500 GMT), the delivery of Russian gas for its carrier through the territory of Ukraine is not executed.”
European dependence on Russian gas
The European Union reduced its dependence on Russian gas to a mere 8% of total EU gas supplies in 2023, from over 40% in 2021. However, some Eastern European countries, such as Austria and Slovakia, continue to import large volumes of Russian gas. The transit stoppage through Ukraine will incur huge financial losses for both Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine will lose around €1 billion annually in transit fees, while Gazprom may lose around €5 billion in sales.
Continued exports via TurkStream
Although gas shipments through Ukraine have been halted, Russia can still export gas through the TurkStream pipeline, which connects to Turkey and serves countries like Hungary and Serbia. This pipeline is now one of the last significant routes for Russian gas into Europe.
Eastern EU nations are still dependent; they continue to receive Russian gas through TurkStream, and Hungary and Serbia still have their energy ties with Moscow despite the broader efforts of the EU to reduce dependence on Russian energy sources.
