Russian fuel materials to the states of the European Union of Ukraine have been interrupted, which closed the oldest path of Moscow to the continent.
The five -year fuel shipping agreement between Russia and Ukraine ended in the early hours of January 1. This expected resolution after kyiv said in several events that he would not reach an agreement in the midst of the existing war.
“We stopped the transit of Russian gas,” Ukraine’s energy minister German Galushchenko said in a statement.
“This is a historical event. Russia is wasting its markets, it will suffer monetary losses. Europe has already made the resolution to abandon Russian gas. “
Gazprom fuel Gazprom is expected to lose approximately $ 5 billion (£ 3. 9 billion) in fuel sales due to closure.
However, the country still exports to feed the Turkstream pipe in the Black Sea. Turkstream has two lines, one for the Turkish domestic market and the other that supplies consumers in Central Europe, adding Hungary and Serbia.
The EU has redoubled its efforts to reduce its dependence on Russian power through other resources after Russia’s invasion in 2022.
The European Commission said on Wednesday that the bloc is ready for sentencing and that the fuel infrastructure “flexible enough to supply non-Russian fuel to the routes of choice in Central and Eastern Europe. “
The remaining buyers of Russian gas, adding Slovakia, said it would continue to supply consumers to Germany and Hungary, however, that they would face more prices to do this.
While the Austrian power minister said the country had done its task and “is well ready for this scenario. “
Despite the preparation, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said the transition will have a “drastic” impact on the EU and nothing on Russia.
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One of the worst affected countries is Moldova, which is not part of the EU and was once part of the Soviet Union.
The country said Wednesday that it will have to introduce measures for fuel use through a third place, while the transnistria separatist region, which is pro -rusa, said it had heating and hot water for homes, the firm reported of news RIA of Russia.
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The end of the deal will also prove costly to Ukraine. The country faces the loss of some $800m (£637m) a year in energy transit fees from Russia.