(Reuters) – Ukraine’s gas transit operator stated Russia had actually not chosen any gas streams for Jan. 1 through the Ukrainian pipeline to Europe since 1500 GMT on Tuesday, hours ahead of the expiration of a five-year agreement in between Gazprom and Ukraine’s Naftogaz.
Regardless of being at war with Russia, Ukraine still transited Russian gas to Europe through pipelines on its area under the regards to an offer checked in December 2019.
Ukraine has actually consistently stated it will not sign a brand-new offer to change the one ending on Dec. 31 due to Russia’s full-blown intrusion of its area, now approaching its 3rd year.
2025 might show to be the very first year considering that the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 when no gas will be carried through Ukraine to Europe.
Russia utilized to provide a little under half of the European Union’s gas before the 2022 war. Europe has actually turned away from Russian gas while as yet inexplicable attacks on the Nord Stream pipeline have actually decreased Russian materials.
Russia provided an overall of around 63.8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas to Europe by different paths in 2022, according to Gazprom information and Reuters estimations.
That volume reduced by 55.6% to 28.3 bcm in 2015. In 2024 transit might amount to less than 14 bcm of gas.
At their peak in 2018-2019, yearly circulations to the European area reached in between 175 bcm and 180 bcm.
In pre-war years Ukraine got numerous billion dollars a year from transit, however in 2024 the payments might drop to about $800 million due to a considerable decrease in pumping volumes.
The Soviet-era Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline brings gas from western Siberia by means of Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk area. It then streams through Ukraine in the instructions of Slovakia.
In Slovakia, the gas pipeline is divided, with among the branches going to the Czech Republic and the other to Austria. The primary purchasers of gas are Hungary, Slovakia and Austria.
(Reporting by Pavel Politiuk, extra reporting Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Gareth Jones and Louise Heavens)
