Despite the war launched against Ukraine by the president of Russia, Vladimir Putinon February 24, the country has continued to be one of the main transit routes for the gas in Russian bound for Europe. This Wednesday that flow has been the subject of an unexpected court by the Ukrainian gas network operator (GTSOU), which has justified its decision to close the tap by alleging “force majeure”, blaming the situation on the fact that the Russian occupation forces control some of the key infrastructure. The European Comission He assures that although the cut may affect part of the gas transit to the EU, for the moment it does not generate “any immediate problem for the security of supply” and recall that Ukraine has been a reliable transit partner for many years.
“The actions of the occupants have led to the interruption of gas transit through the Sojranivka connection point”, announced the company GasTransmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU) it’s a statement. A “cause of force majeure“which makes it impossible to continue transporting gas through that metering point, on the border with Russia, and the Novopskov compression station, both located in the eastern Ukrainian province of Lugansk and in territory controlled by Moscow forces , explained Kiev.The affected corridor mainly supplies gas to Austria, Italy, Slovakia and other Eastern countries.
“The Commission has been informed by Ukraine of its inability to exercise effective operational control over the Novopskov compression station. The station has been controlled by the Russian authorities since the beginning of April, and Ukrainian personnel are under pressure in their activities. daily,” explained a community spokesman who also announced that the Ukrainian authorities have reported that “unauthorized gas diversions” have been made from the compression station to other areas controlled by Russia. “The current situation is clearly the result of the actions of the Russian side,” Brussels denounces.
Gazprom does not redirect the flow
The notification of “force majeure” has led to the interruption of flows through the Sokhranovka interconnection point, on the border between Russia and Ukraine. This flow represents approximately one fourth part of Russian gas to the EU, some 32.6 million cubic meters a day. The Ukrainian authorities have requested the company Gazpromwhich has a monopoly on Russian gas, that in order to continue supplying Europe with the planned volume, channel the transit of gas through an alternative route that has available capacity, such as Sudzha, further north, although, according to Brussels, it has not yet been received a reply.
“Gazprom has not received confirmations of force majeure and does not see impediments to the continuity of the work,” said its spokesman Sergei Kuprianov, on Telegram. According to Gazprom, so far “Ukrainian specialists have been working regularly in Sojranivka and nothing prevents them from continuing their work.” As for the possibility of transferring the flows to Sudzha, according to the Russian company, it is “technically impossible”. The company has also announced that the fuel transit to Europe through Ukrainian territory is located this Wednesday in 72 million cubic metersbelow the 95.8 million supplied the day before.
“No immediate problem”
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Although according to the European Commission all these events “may affect part of the gas transit to the EU”, at the moment they do not pose “any immediate problem” of security of supply for the EU, he assures, expressing solidarity with kyiv and praising the efforts of the staff , which works in “extremely difficult” conditions, to maintain the stability of the energy system and guarantee the fulfillment of its obligations, despite the war, as a transit country.
Russia supplies the European Union with 40% of the gas it consumes -155,000 million cubic meters- which places the Twenty-seven in a situation of high dependency that they aspire to break by replacing two-thirds of Russian gas imports through alternative suppliers and promoting the use of renewable energy. With a view to making this goal a reality, the European Commission will present the new “RepowerEU” plan on May 18.