Russian fuel exports to Europe: Herbal Flow Ukraine fuel stopped at the end of the agreement
The flow of Russian gas to several European countries was halted on New Year’s Day after Ukraine refused to renegotiate a transit deal amid war with Moscow.
Ukraine’s reluctance to renew the five-year public shipping agreement is aimed at provoking Russia to borrow from the source of revenue that Moscow can use to fund its war, however, this resolution will likely create a power crisis in Eastern Europe, with Transnistria, a brilliant Moldovan region – cutting heat from heat to heat cut off and the hot water source to homes.
“It ends what once Russia’s domain in the EU energy market,” said Jonah Hull de Al Jazeera, as reported through the capital of Ukraine, kyiv. Before the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia provided about 35% of European herbal exports of the pipelines.
With the closure of the oldest carbonated road from Russia to Europe, functional for more than 40 years, the percentage of Russia decreases to less than 10%. Another fuel pipe that passes through Turkiye supplies fuels to countries such as Hungary.
So what will the deactivation of the taps look like at the height of the countries of the winter season, especially in Eastern Europe and what may take place next?
Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Wednesday that gas supplies to Europe had been halted at 8am local time (05:00 GMT) after Ukraine’s state-owned oil and gas company Naftogaz refused to renew its latest five-year transit deal.
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko said in a statement, “We stopped the transit of Russian gas. This is an historic event. Russia is losing its markets, it will suffer financial losses. Europe has already made the decision to abandon Russian gas.”
The last contract first signed in 2020 under which Ukraine paid shipping costs. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had warned that Kyiv would not renew the transit agreement amid the non-stop war.
Many European countries have to reduce their dependence on Russian fuel after the invasion of Ukraine through Moscow in February 2022.
At its peak, Moscow’s share of European fuel imports was 35%, but it has fallen to around 8%.
The European Union won less than 14 billion cubic meters (BCM) of the Russian fuel in Ukraine on December 1, in opposition to 65 BCM in accordance with the year when the contract began in 2020.
The fuel is sent through the Urangoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipe from the Soviet Siberian era in Sudzha, a city in the Kursk region in Russia that is now under the Ukrainian army. The gas moves through Ukraine in Slovakia. There, the pipe is divided into branches that supply food in the Czech Republic and Austria.
The transit deal was bringing financial returns for both Russia and Ukraine.
The Ukrainian media cited Serhii Makohon, former head of the Ukrainian operator of GTS, believing that Russia obtained a high sum of the traffic agreement that Ukraine.
Makohon estimated that Russia earns $ 5 billion a year, a figure also reported through the Reuters news agency. On the other hand, Ukraine used to obtain $ 800 million annually “but the maximum of that cash is spent in the transit itself. The [Ukraine] treasure obtains $ 100-200 million in taxes and dividends,” Makohon quoted saying through Ukrainska Pravda.
Bloomberg estimated that Russia’s income is even higher, at $ 6. 5 billion a year.
Austria, Slovakia and Moldova were based on public shipping for supply.
Austria was receiving most of its gas from Russia through Ukraine, while Slovakia was obtaining around 3bcm through the route annually, amounting to approximately two-thirds of its demand.
Austria’s power regulator, E-Control said it was ready for a transfer of origin and not face disturbances.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Wednesday that the detained source would charge the Eastern European country millions of dollars in transit profits and premium fees for loading other gases.
FICO said it would accrue fuel charges in Europe. The Slovak Economy Ministry said the country will have to bear the cargo value of 177 million euros ($184 million) for receiving fuel through routes of choice.
Possibly the most vulnerable is Moldova. Russia sent about 2bcm of gas via Ukraine to Moldova’s pro-Russia breakaway region Transnistria annually since 2022. Transnistria, which borders Ukraine, would then sell electricity, generated using Russian gas, to government-controlled parts of Moldova.
Moldova has already declared a state of emergency over the impending gas shortage. Moldova’s President Maia Sandu has blamed Gazprom for not considering an alternative route, and has said this winter in Moldova would be “harsh” without Russian gas.
However, Prime Minister Moldavian Dorin Reance said Moldova has fuel supply resources.
On Wednesday, Transnetria, which is home to 450,000 people, cuts off heat and hot water to homes.
Ukraine itself uses Russian traffic gas, according to the European Commission, which added that the block was ready for cutting.
The pipe through Ukraine is one of the latest functional routes used to export Russian fuel. Other pipes were closed following the Ukraine War of 2022, adding the Yamal-Europe pipe through Belarus and the Nord Stream pipe under the Baltic Sea that sent fuel to Germany.
Russia still uses the Turkstream pipeline on the Black Sea bed to export gas. The pipeline has two lines, one materials the domestic marketplace in Türkiye, whilst the other materials consumers in Central Europe, adding Hungary and Serbia.
However, Turkstream has an annual capacity, which amounts to 31. 5bcm for the two combined lines.
Europe has tried its dependence on Russian fuel, since it bought Liquefied Herbal (LNG) fuel in Qatar and the United States, along the fuel of the channel in Norway.
“The European gas infrastructure is flexible enough to provide gas of non-Russian origin to Central and Eastern Europe via alternative routes. It has been reinforced with significant new LNG import capacities since 2022,” Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, a spokesperson from the European Commission said.
A main energy supplier in Slovakia, SPP, said on Wednesday that it was ready for the transition and that would provide its consumers for choice routes, basically from Germany and also Hungary. However, he added that he would face more prices in fees.
According to the Austrian Energy Regulator, electronic control, Slovakia can obtain Hungary fuel, around an Austria third and the remaining source of the Czech Republic and Poland. The Czech Republic also said that it can be offering traffic transits of Slovakia and garage capabilities.
The Moldové AUOCOM Power Corporate published on Tuesday a statement that Moldova can comply with 38% of its energy wishes through national production, adding 10% of renewable energies. Coocom added that Transnistria would import the remaining 62% of neighbor Romania.