Russian natural gas transit through Ukraine may stop by the end of 2024, Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko said in an interview with the Financial Times.
According to him, deliveries may be stopped after the end of the current contract. One may remind, at the end of 2019, a 5-year contract was signed for the supply of Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine.
“I really don’t see how it can be on a bilateral basis,” Galushchenko said when asked if Ukraine would be willing to renegotiate the agreement with Moscow after last year’s invasion.
“I can say that we are preparing our system for a reduction in supplies,” the minister added.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia continued to blackmail Europe with natural gas supplies, demanding payment for gas in rubles and cutting supplies. Thus, in 2023, there are only two routes left for Russian gas supplies: Ukraine and Turkish Stream.
According to ExPro calculations, in 5.5 months of 2023, Russia delivered 10.8 bcm of natural gas to Europe, 4.2 times less than in 2022 (45.3bcm) and 6.3 times less than in 2021 (68.3 bcm).
In particular, almost 6.3 bcm of natural gas was delivered through the Ukrainian gas transmission system in 5.5 months of 2023, 1.9 times less than last year (12 bcm) and 3.2 times less than in 2021 (19.9 bcm).