Russian gas supply to European Union via Ukraine halted

Russian gas supplies to European Union states via Ukraine have been halted, shutting down Moscow’s oldest gas route to the continent.

The five-year gas transit deal between Russia and Ukraine ended in the early hours of 1 January. The move was expected after Kyiv repeatedly said it would not extend the agreement amid the ongoing war.

“We stopped the transit of Russian gas,” Ukraine’s energy minister German Galushchenko said in a statement.

“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.”

Russian gas giant Gazprom is expected to lose close to $5bn (£3.9bn) in gas sales due to the stoppage.

However, the country still exports gas via the TurkStream pipeline in 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 EU redoubled its efforts to reduce its dependence on Russian energy by seeking alternative sources after Russia’s invasion in 2022.

The European Commission said on Wednesday the bloc was prepared for the stoppage, and gas infrastructure was “flexible enough to provide gas of non-Russian origin to central and eastern Europe via alternative routes”.

Remaining buyers of Russian gas including Slovakia said it would continue to supply customers using pipelines from Germany and Hungary, but would face additional costs in doing so.

While the Austrian energy minister said the country had done its homework and was “well prepared for this scenario”.

Despite the preparation, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said the transition will have a “drastic” impact on the EU and nothing on Russia.

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One of the worst affected countries is Moldova, which is not part of the EU and was once part of the Soviet Union.

The country said on Wednesday it will need to introduce measures to reduce its gas use by a third while the breakaway region of Transnistria – which is pro-Russian – said it has cut heating and hot water to households, Russia’s RIA news agency reported.

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The end of the deal will also prove costly to Ukraine. The country faces the loss of some $800m (£637m) a year in energy transit fees from Russia.