Moscow and Kiev said Russia’s gas shipments to Europe via Ukraine were halted on Wednesday, marking the latest casualty of a decades-old arrangement and war between the neighbors.
Russian gas has been delivered to Europe through pipelines crossing Ukraine since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, generating gas revenue for Moscow and transit fees for Kyiv.
The latest transit agreement expired on Wednesday, with Ukraine choosing not to extend the agreement following a 2022 invasion by Russia.
Russian gas will account for less than 10% of EU gas imports in 2023 – down from 40% before the war.
But some EU members, mostly in the east, still rely heavily on Russian gas for geographic and political reasons.
In a statement, Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushenko called it a historic event and said that we have stopped the delivery of Russian gas.
“Russia is losing its markets, it will suffer financially,” he added.
Russian energy giant Gazprom said in a separate statement that “Russian gas has not been delivered for transit via Ukraine since 8:00 a.m. (0500 GMT)”.
It said it had lost the “technical and legal right” to send its gas from Ukraine to Europe.
European natural gas prices climbed above 50 euros ($51.78) per megawatt hour for the first time in more than a year on Tuesday as buyers in Eastern Europe tried to hold back supplies.
EU and NATO members Hungary and Slovakia have maintained close ties with the Kremlin despite the attack.
Blocking Russian gas through Ukraine will force some countries to dip deeper into their reserves and import more liquefied natural gas (LNG).
But Hungary is not going to be massively affected by the move, as it gets most of its Russian gas through the Black Sea pipeline, an alternative route that bypasses Ukraine through Turkey and the Balkans.
Brussels has downplayed the impact of the loss of Russian gas supplies on the 27-member bloc.
“The Commission has been working for more than a year specifically to prepare for a scenario without Russian gas transit through Ukraine,” he said. AFP on Tuesday.