Ukraine Celebrates Cutting off Neighbors’ Gas Supplies as Victory
January 2, 2025
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on the Telegram social media network on Wednesday that the halt of Russian gas transit to Ukraine was one of Moscow’s biggest defeats so far. Meanwhile, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico warned that shutting off gas transit to Ukraine will have a drastic impact on everyone in the European Union, but not on Russia.
“When Putin came to power in Russia more than 25 years ago, the annual gas transit through Ukraine to Europe was more than 130 billion cubic meters. Today, the transit of Russian gas is zero. This is one of Moscow’s greatest defeats,” Zelenskyy wrote in his post, reports the Kyiv Independent. He added that Russia had been deprived of its most attractive and geographically accessible markets by using energy resources as a weapon and cynically blackmailing its trading partners with energy. The Ukrainian President added that it is now a joint task to support Moldova in its energy transition. He was referring to the state of emergency that had already been introduced in Moldova in mid-December due to the insecurity of energy supplies, as the country is heavily dependent on Russian gas supplies.
Zelenskyy mentioned the hope to see an increase in the volume of US gas supplies to Europe, which President-elect Donald Trump has already talked about.
According to the Ukrainian President, the US’ and other partners’ gas supplies will make energy market prices more favorable, although real-world numbers point at the exact opposite. In truth though, the Ukrainian government may have just shot themselves in the foot as Russian gas keeps flowing into EU member states as usual, albeit through the Southern TurkStream route. While this is excellent news for Türkiye, Ukraine will loose billions of dollars annually on transit fees. Furthermore, President Zelenskyy has just handed an exceptional propaganda tool to pro-Russian voices in Europe, as the Ukrainian move is interpreted by many as an unfriendly measure that will drive up energy prices for domestic users as well as industrial clients. Hungary, for instance, that has sent a record amount of humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion and is the largest exporter of electricity to Ukraine, will see a rise in whole-sale prices in gas.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, was not so happy either with the news of the Russian gas halt through Ukraine. In an open letter to EU leaders, he wrote that
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s unilateral decision to cut off Russian gas transit would cost the EU tens of billions of euros and that its “silent” acceptance was wrong and would lead to tensions and retaliatory measures.
Meanwhile, Slovak gas transmission company Eustream confirmed that on 1 January, gas supplies from Ukraine were stopped at the Velké Kapusany entry point on the Slovak-Ukrainian border.
Apart from Hungary and Slovakia, the halt in Russian gas supplies through Ukraine concerns other countries as well. In the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria, residents woke up to no central heating and hot water on New Year’s Day, reports The Moscow Times. Fortunately, exceptions were made for healthcare facilities and residential care institutions. Local energy company, Tirasteploenergo stressed that restarting the heating system is a complex technical process, requiring access to people’s homes, and could take up to 14 days. Meanwhile, in Transnistria, the temperature was around minus 1 Celsius degree on Wednesday night.
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In Hungary, there will be no supply disruption due to the long-term Hungarian-Russian gas purchase contract in force, reports Világgazdaság. Under this agreement,
Russia’s Gazprom already sends 3.5 billion cubic meters per year to the Hungarian market via the TurkStream from the south, through Bulgaria and Serbia, and 1 billion cubic meters via Austria.
Hungary, like almost the rest of Europe, is looking forward to the upcoming heating season with almost full storage facilities. At the moment, we are at almost 92 percent full. Moreover, there is a need to store more gas, so the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority agreed that the Hungarian Gas Storage Ltd should receive a little more gas than the nominal amount.
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