 "Russian energy giant Gazprom suspends gas flow to Europe through Ukraine")
Russia's energy giant Gazprom announced on Wednesday that it had halted the flow of natural gas to Europe through a long-standing pipeline that has carried Soviet and Russian gas through Ukraine for nearly six decades. This move follows Ukraine's decision not to renew a key agreement, signed in 2019, which had permitted the transit of Russian gas through its territory.
The agreement officially expired on Wednesday, Gazprom said on its Telegram channel.
The pipeline, originally built during the Soviet era to transport Siberian gas to European markets, is one of the last major gas routes from Russia to Europe.
In its post the company wrote in Russian, "On January 1, 2025, at 8:00 Moscow time, the documents signed on December 30, 2019 expired: the agreement between PJSC Gazprom and NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine on organizing the transportation of Russian gas through the territory of Ukraine and the agreement on cooperation between the operators of the Russian and Ukrainian GTS - PJSC Gazprom and LLC Gas Transportation System Operator of Ukraine."
"Due to the repeated and explicit refusal of the Ukrainian side to extend these agreements, Gazprom was deprived of the technical and legal ability to supply gas for transit through the territory of Ukraine from January 1, 2025. Since 8:00 Moscow time, Russian gas has not been supplied for its transportation through the territory of Ukraine," it stated.
Europe has significantly reduced its consumption of Russian gas since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago. However, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and several Balkan countries still rely on Russian gas flowing through Ukraine.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had threatened to shut down the gas pipeline, despite retaliatory threats from countries such as Slovakia and Hungary, which depend heavily on Russian gas. Although Zelenskyy was expected to announce the shutdown, his New Year’s Eve address did not mention it.