Russian gas exports to Europe are stopped - Ukraine stops transit, price increase for consumers is expected
As the new year dawned, Russian gas exports through Ukraine were halted, marking the end of Moscow's decades of dominance in Europe's energy markets. Since the beginning of the war, the European Union began to reduce dependence on Russian gas, diversifying energy sources.
Exports of Russian gas through Soviet-era pipelines running through Ukraine were halted in the new year, marking the end of Moscow's decades of dominance over Europe's energy markets. Gas shipments had continued through the war years, but Ukraine refused to renew a transit agreement that expired at the end of 2024.
This expected disruption will not affect prices for consumers in the European Union, unlike in 2022, when falling supplies from Russia drove prices to record levels, exacerbated the cost of living crisis and hit the bloc's competitiveness.
Recent buyers of Russian gas via Ukraine, such as Slovakia and Austria, have found alternative routes, while Hungary will continue to supply via the TurkStream pipeline to the Black Sea.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the end of gas transit through his country to Europe was "one of Moscow's biggest defeats" and urged the US to supply more gas to Europe. "The more the market is filled by Europe's true partners, the sooner we will overcome the last negative consequences of European energy dependence on Russia," he said.
The European Commission said the EU was prepared for the disruption. "The European gas infrastructure is flexible enough to secure gas from other sources. It has been reinforced with new liquefied natural gas import capacity from 2022."
Russia and the former Soviet Union spent half a century carving out a large share of the European gas market, which at its peak was about 35%. But the bloc has reduced its dependence on Russian energy since the start of the war in Ukraine, buying more gas from Norway, Qatar and the United States.
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