Ukraine, at the end of the contract which linked it to Gazprom, now refuses any transit of Russian gas

Exports of Russian gas transiting through Ukraine ceased on Wednesday, signaling the end of Russian domination of the European energy market, forced to diversify its supplies since Moscow's invasion of Ukrainian territory in February 2022. .

The sanctions targeting Russia will not have prevented, for almost three years, Russian gas from reaching Western Europe, but Kyev's refusal to renew the transit contract which linked it to Gazprom until Wednesday put an end to this situation.

This judgment had been widely anticipated by the European authorities. It should not have a significant impact on the prices paid by European consumers, unlike in 2022, when the drop in Russian gas deliveries caused significant tensions on the supply front.

LNG instead

The last countries which still supplied themselves with Russian gas, such as Austria or Slovakia, have since found alternatives. Hungary, for its part, will continue to obtain supplies from Russia by transporting Russian gas through TurkStream, which operates two gas pipelines crossing the Black Sea.

In Transnistria, a Moldovan region subservient to Moscow, heating and the supply of hot water were however cut off on Wednesday morning due to lack of supplies.

In Brussels, the European Commission prides itself on having anticipated the end of Russian gas deliveries. “European gas infrastructure is flexible enough to supply gas that does not originate in Russia“, said a spokesperson for the European executive. “It has been expanded with new LNG (liquefied natural gas) capacities.“, he added.