Ukraine News: “Gazprom turned off the tap” – Ukraine raises serious allegations against Russia
Created: 05/11/2022, 16:42
According to the Ukrainian gas network operator GTSOU, the Russian state-owned company Gazprom has stopped gas deliveries via the key Sochranivka route.
© Sergei Chuzavkov/AP/dpa
Less Russian gas has flowed west since Wednesday morning.
According to the Ukrainian gas network operator, Gazprom has stopped gas supplies via the key route Sokhranivka.
Kyiv – Ukraine has blamed Russia for halting gas transit through a key hub in the east of the country.
Russian energy giant Gazprom has "stopped" gas supplies via the key Sokhranivka route, Ukrainian gas network operator GTSOU announced on Wednesday.
The day before, GTSOU had accused the Russian army of interfering in technical processes and announced the suspension of gas transit via the Sokhranivka node.
Gas network operator of Ukraine: "Gazprom has turned off the tap"
"Gazprom has turned off the tap," GTSOU announced on Wednesday.
Russia has diverted gas supplies destined for transit through Ukraine to pro-Russian separatist-controlled "People's Republics" in eastern Ukraine, the statement said.
On Tuesday, GTSOU announced that it would temporarily redirect all gas supplies from Russia destined for transit to Europe to the northern Ukrainian hub of Suja "in order to fully meet transit obligations towards European partners".
A representative of Ukraine's state-owned gas company Naftogaz, Svitlana Zalishchuk, told AFP on Wednesday that Russia had increased the volume of gas routed through Suja by 15 percent.
However, this is not sufficient to close the gap created by stopping the transit via Sochranivka.
Data released by GTSOU showed that the amount of gas over the Sokhranivka route dropped to zero on Wednesday morning.
According to the company, the volume of gas from Russia routed via Sokhranivka or Suja is expected to fall by 18 percent compared to the previous day.
This corresponds to 16 million cubic meters of gas.
Ukraine News: No "force majeure circumstances" according to Gazprom
The Russian news agency Tass, citing Gazprom, reported that the gas pipeline through Ukraine stood at 72 million cubic meters on Wednesday.
The day before it was 95.8 million cubic meters.
The day before, Gazprom had said with regard to Ukraine's allegations that there were no "force majeure circumstances".
Diversion of the entire volume of gas destined for transit through Ukraine is impossible.
Zalishchuk accused Gazprom of playing a "political game".
"They want to portray us as the irresponsible ones, when it's actually the opposite," she explained.
Ukraine is an important transit country for Russian gas deliveries to Europe.
Even after the Russian invasion on February 24, both sides kept the flow of gas going.
Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, the EU has been trying to reduce its dependence on Russian energy imports.
However, some Member States, including Germany, remain heavily dependent on Russian natural gas.
(AFP/lma)