Ukraine's decision to terminate its contract with Russian energy company Gazprom to supply Russian gas to Europe will be very detrimental to European consumers, the Russian government said Wednesday (28/8).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday (27/8) that his country would not extend the transit agreement through Ukraine beyond 31 December.
“It's over,” he said.
Despite the ongoing conflict, Russia shipped more than 14 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe via Ukraine in 2023. However, that is less than the 40 billion cubic meters stipulated in the contract.
European Union members Austria, Hungary and Slovakia still receive Russian gas this way.
The three countries continue to rely on Russian gas despite the European Union promising to wean itself off Russian gas by 2027 following Moscow's full-scale incursion into Ukraine in February 2022.
“Such a decision by Ukraine would be extremely detrimental to the interests of European consumers who still want to buy Russian gas,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“They will just have to pay more, which will make their industry less competitive,” he added.
Ukrainian companies signed five-year contracts with Gazprom in late 2019.
Last month, Zelensky indicated that Ukraine was in discussions with Azerbaijan, a major natural gas producer, to replace Russian gas transiting through Ukraine.
However, Ukraine does not border Azerbaijan, meaning that Azerbaijani gas still has to be transported by pipeline through Russia.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in late July that the EU and Kyiv had approached him to help in discussions with Moscow to reach a deal.
Since August 6, Ukraine has launched an unprecedented cross-border counter-offensive in Russia's Kursk region, capturing dozens of settlements, including the town of Sudzha.
The town of about 5,000 people is home to the Sudzha metering station, the last major transit point for Russian gas pipelines still heading to Europe via Ukraine. (ft/es)
