Ukraine to Stop Key Russian Gas Transit to Europe, Attributes Blame to Moscow – Reuters

By Pavel Polityuk and Susanna Twidale

KYIV/LONDON – On Tuesday, Ukraine announced it would halt gas transit through a key point that transports nearly a third of the gas flowing from Russia to Europe. The Ukrainian government attributed this decision to actions by Moscow, indicating that it would redirect gas flows elsewhere.

Despite the ongoing conflict, Ukraine has remained a crucial transit route for Russian gas to European nations. The Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU) declared it would cease shipments via the Sokhranivka route starting Wednesday, citing "force majeure" as the reason—an assertion used when a company faces events outside its control.

In contrast, Gazprom, the Russian entity that controls gas pipeline exports, claimed it was "technologically impossible" to move all transit volumes to the Sudzha interconnection point, which is located further west, as suggested by GTSOU.

Sergiy Makogon, GTSOU’s CEO, alleged that Russian forces had begun to divert gas that transit through Ukraine to regions in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists, although he did not provide evidence for this claim. He remarked that operations at the Novopskov gas compressor station were hindered due to interference from occupying forces but noted that the affected gas flow could be temporarily redirected to the Sudzha interconnection point in Ukrainian territory.

Yuriy Vitrenko, head of the state energy firm Naftogaz, assured that the suspension of Russian gas flows through the Sokhranivka route should not affect the domestic gas market in Ukraine. Additionally, Moldova’s state gas company, located on Ukraine’s western border, confirmed it had not received any notifications from either GTSOU or Gazprom about potential supply interruptions.

The Novopskov compressor station, situated in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, has been under the control of Russian and separatist forces since the onset of what Russia refers to as a "special military operation" back in February. This station is critical as it processes around 32.6 million cubic meters of gas daily, accounting for about a third of Russia’s gas exports to Europe via Ukraine.

GTSOU stated that to meet its “transit obligations to European partners,” it would "temporarily transfer unavailable capacity" to the Sudzha interconnection point. Gazprom acknowledged receipt of Ukraine’s notification regarding the halting of gas transit through the Sokhranivka interconnector starting at 0700 local time on Wednesday. Gazprom asserted that it had seen no evidence of force majeure or any barriers to continued operations and emphasized that it was fulfilling all its contractual obligations to European gas buyers.

In response to the ongoing crisis, the United States has urged nations to reduce their reliance on Russian energy and has imposed bans on Russian oil and other energy imports. A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department stated that Ukraine’s announcement does not alter the urgency of decreasing global dependence on Russian oil "as soon as possible."