“We have stopped the transit of Russian gas, it is a historic event,” said Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko. But several countries are concerned about this situation, notably Moldova which has declared a state of emergency.
Published on 01/01/2025 18:36
Reading time: 3min
The tap is turned off. Deliveries of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine definitively ceased on Wednesday January 1, after the expiration of a contract signed between the two parties at the end of 2019 and maintained despite Russia's invasion of the country. This stop, which concerns almost a third of total Russian gas deliveries to Europe, worries several Eastern European countries, notably Moldova, particularly vulnerable, which has declared a state of emergency.
“We have stopped the transit of Russian gas, it is a historic event. Russia is losing markets, it will suffer financial losses”welcomed the Ukrainian Minister of Energy, German Galushchenko. No deliveries were planned for Wednesday, according to data published the day before by the Ukrainian operator GTSOU, noting the expiration of a five-year contract established in 2019 between the Ukrainian company Naftogaz and the Russian giant Gazprom.
This end of the transit is “one of Moscow's greatest defeats”welcomed Volodymyr Zelensky. “When Putin took power in Russia more than 25 years ago, the annual volume of gas sent via Ukraine to Europe amounted to more than 130 billion m3. Today, gas transit Russia is at zero, which is one of Moscow's biggest defeats.”wrote the Ukrainian president on social networks.
At the time, in 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky was nevertheless delighted with an agreement synonymous with “energy security” and of “prosperity for Ukrainians”which was to report to the country “more than seven billion dollars” over five years. But times have changed radically. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and its army regularly attacks Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
Gazprom confirmed in a statement that since Wednesday morning “Russian gas was not supplied for transit through Ukraine”. Its exports to Europe via Ukrainian territory amount to just over 14 billion cubic meters per year, according to official figures. In this tense context, the price of European gas reached the symbolic mark of 50 euros per megawatt hour on Tuesday, a first in more than a year.
In recent weeks, Hungary and Slovakia have complained about seeing the tap cut off. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, well-disposed towards Vladimir Putin and whose country is very dependent on Russian gas supplies, warned on Wednesday of a “drastic impact on all of us in the EU”. In Moldova, the pro-Russian separatist region of Transdniestria”going through a difficult situation” after local supplier Tiraspoltransgaz “interrupted the supply of natural gas and heating”warned the spokesperson for the Moldovan government. The latter calls on Russia to “stop his blackmail”.
