Gazprom: Ukraine halts gas transit to Western Europe due to war

Created: 05/11/2022, 07:20

By: Katja Thorwarth

Gas transit through Ukraine has been halted because of the Russian war of aggression.

© dpa/Planet Labs PBC via AP

Russia's war against Ukraine is now having an impact on gas transit to Europe.

Kyiv/Moscow - Ukraine will stop the transit of Russian gas in the Luhansk region in the east of the country from Wednesday (May 11) because of the Russian war of aggression.

According to the Ukrainian gas network operator, up to 32.6 million cubic meters of gas per day were eliminated - that is almost a third of the maximum amount that can be transported via Ukraine to Europe every day.

Due to the Russian occupation, it has become impossible to control the Sochranivka point and the Novopskov compressor station, it said.

The operator referred to a case of "force majeure".

Sokhranivka is part of the Soyuz pipeline, which runs from the Russian region of Orenburg to Uzhhorod in Ukraine.

The transit partial stop should have been in effect since 7:00 a.m. local time (6:00 a.m. CEST).

Consequences of the Ukraine war: Russia is said to have disrupted the operation of the gas plants

Kyiv indicated that the Russian army had disrupted the operation of the facilities.

The energy giant Gazprom, on the other hand, states that it has recently pumped almost 100 million cubic meters of gas through Ukraine towards Europe every day - it has received "no confirmation of circumstances of force majeure".

The Ukrainians have been working "undisturbed" in Sochranivka in recent weeks.

It is technically not possible to divert the deliveries that are now no longer available via other routes, said spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov, according to the Interfax agency.

Gazprom once again emphasized that it will fulfill all its obligations to European customers.

The contractual maximum capacity for Ukrainian gas transit to Europe is 109 million cubic meters per day.

The main route for Russian gas to Europe, however, is the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1. According to Russian information, 60 billion cubic meters of gas per year ran through Nord Stream 1 to Europe.

Ukraine War: Transit of Russian Gas to Western Europe at Risk

Two and a half months after the Ukraine conflict escalated, Moscow announced on Tuesday morning that it had advanced to the administrative borders of Luhansk together with pro-Russian separatists.

The head of the Ukrainian energy supplier Naftogaz, Yuriy Vitrenko, recently warned the RND that gas transit could be endangered if Russia were to continue its attacks on the Ukrainian infrastructure.

Germany is heavily dependent on Russian gas.

Demands for a gas embargo, for example, are therefore very controversial.

(ktho/dpa)