Alena Kirichenko19:46, 01/26/24
The EU notes that even countries that are most dependent on Russian supplies will be able to find alternative supplies.
The European Union is preparing to abandon the extension of a key agreement with Russia over the use of a Ukrainian gas transit pipeline when it expires at the end of the year.
As Bloomberg writes , citing its own sources, the EU executive’s rationale is that even countries that are most dependent on Russian supplies – including Austria and Slovakia – will be able to find alternative supplies if the agreement ends.
“The European Commission has carried out a preliminary analysis of potential scenarios resulting from the end of the transit agreement, including modeling the capacity of other connections such as Turkish Stream to help offset any shortfall,” it said.
The bloc’s executive will discuss the issue with member states in February before formally presenting the plan to energy ministers at a meeting in Brussels on March 4, the sources said.
One of the sources notes that there may still be ways for countries and companies with contracts after 2024 to secure gas supplies through Ukraine. One method would be for Russia to supply gas to the Ukrainian border, and then an EU entity to enter into an agreement with Kyiv’s gas transmission system operator to transport the gas to Austria, Slovakia or the Czech Republic – the three countries most dependent on supplies from Moscow.
Transit of Russian gas to Europe
In 2023, Russian energy giant Gazprom sent 28.3 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe . The figure decreased by 55.6% compared to 2022, when Russia supplied about 63.8 billion cubic meters to Europe via various routes. m of gas.
On Wednesday, January 24, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that gas supplies through Ukraine can be maintained.
However, Ukraine objected that it was ready to reconsider the key agreement with Russia on gas transit, after the Prime Minister of Slovakia announced such a possibility. The agreement expires at the end of this year.
(C)UNIAN 2024
Orban, how much you need to stop the import of Russian gas?
The EU have no choice, Ukraine have said they are not renewing the contract.