Russia on Wednesday shut down its oldest gas route to Europe, which runs through Ukraine, after a transit contract expired in the early hours of January 1, 2025, without an extension of the deal.
This is coming as the five-year transit agreement expired on Wednesday, it has stopped sending Russian gas to Europe across its borders.
With Moscow’s war in Ukraine about to enter its fourth year, the shutdown of one of Russia’s oldest gas conduits to the EU was anticipated. According to Ukraine’s energy ministry, the agreement was terminated “for the sake of national security.”
“Russian gas transit has been halted. In a statement, the ministry said, “This is a historic event,” and added that its gas transportation infrastructure had been ready before the expiration.
The European Union has worked to diversify its energy sources and lessen its reliance on Russia ever since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. According to the European Council, pipeline gas imports from Russia to the EU have significantly decreased, falling from more than 40% in 2021 to roughly 8% in 2023.
The TurkStream pipeline, which passes through Turkey to Bulgaria, will be Russia’s last remaining pipeline option for delivering gas to Europe when the route through Ukraine is closed.
The Kremlin-owned gas giant Gazprom, which inked the transit agreement with Ukraine’s Naftogaz in 2019, suffered a $6.9 billion loss last year—its first in almost two decades—as a result of lower shipments to Europe, according to Reuters. Despite its efforts to increase exports to China, a new buyer, this is the case.
According to the news agency, Ukraine would now lose over $800 million annually in transit fees from Russia, while Gazprom will lose nearly $5 billion in gas sales. Slovakia and Austria, two European nations that continue to buy Russian gas, have previously set up alternate supply routes, the article said.
