Russian gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine are set to end on Wednesday, when a five-year agreement between Ukrainian gas transport company Naftogaz and Russia's Gazprom expires.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country would not allow Russia to “earn additional billions from our blood” and gave the European Union a year to prepare.
The European Union has significantly reduced gas imports from Russia since it began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but a number of eastern member states remain largely dependent on supplies, leaving Russia around 5 billion euros ($5.2 billion, 4.2 billion euros). British pounds). year.
The European Commission said that the continent's gas system is “resilient and flexible” and has sufficient capacity to handle the end of transit through Ukraine.
Russian gas represents less than 10% of European Union gas imports in 2023. According to block numbersCompared to 40% in 2021.
But several EU members, including Slovakia and Austria, continue to import large amounts of gas from Russia.
Austria's energy regulator said it does not expect any supply disruptions because it has diversified energy sources and accumulated reserves.
But Ukraine's decision has already created serious tensions with Slovakia, which is now the main entry point for Russian gas into the EU, and which receives transit fees for piped gas to Austria, Hungary and Italy.
On Friday, Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico – who had just… A surprise visit to Moscow For talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin – he threatened to stop electricity supplies to Ukraine.
This prompted Zelensky to accuse him of helping Putin “finance the war and weaken Ukraine.”
“Fico is dragging Slovakia into Russia's attempts to cause more suffering to Ukrainians,” the Ukrainian president said.
Poland has offered to support Kiev if Slovakia cuts off its electricity exports, supplies that are critical to Ukraine, whose power plants are under regular attacks from Russia.
Moldova – which is not part of the European Union – could be seriously affected by the expiration of the transit agreement. The gas was feeding the power plant on which Moldova depends to meet most of its electricity needs. It also supplied the Russian-backed breakaway region of Transnistria, a small piece of land located between Moldova and Ukraine.
Moldova's Energy Minister, Constantin Borusan, said the government had taken steps to ensure stable energy supplies to the country, but called on citizens to save energy. A 60-day state of emergency has been imposed in Moldova's energy sector since mid-December.
President Maia Sandu has accused the Kremlin of “blackmail”, perhaps with the aim of destabilizing her country ahead of general elections in 2025. Moldova's government also said it had offered assistance to Transnistria.
Russia has been transporting gas to Europe via Ukraine since 1991.
As the European Union reduces its dependence on Russian gas, it has found alternative sources in liquefied natural gas from Qatar and the United States, as well as pipelined gas from Norway.
Once the Ukrainian transit route is cut, the Turkish Stream line in the Black Sea – which connects to Türkiye, Hungary and Serbia – will be the only source of Russian gas supply to European countries.
In December, the European Commission Plans made She said it would enable EU member states to completely replace the gas passing through Ukraine.
Under EU emergency plans, Greek, Turkish and Romanian gas will be supplied to affected countries via a route through the Balkans, while Norwegian gas will be pumped via Poland. More supplies will also reach central Europe via Germany.
