Moscow (TDI): Russian gas exports via Soviet-era pipelines running through Ukraine came to a halt, marking the end of decades of Moscow’s dominance over Europe’s energy markets.
The gas had kept flowing despite nearly three years of war, but Russia’s gas firm Gazprom said it had stopped the supply after Ukraine refused to renew a transit deal.
The widely expected stoppage will not impact prices for consumers in the EU — unlike in 2022, when falling supplies from Russia sent rates to record highs, worsened a cost-of-living crisis and hit the bloc’s competitiveness.
The last remaining EU buyers of Russian gas via Ukraine, such as Austria and Slovakia, have arranged alternative supply, while Hungary will keep receiving Russian gas via the TurkStream pipeline under the Black Sea.
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However, a pro-Russian breakaway region in Moldova, which relies on transit flows, has reportedly cut heating and hot water supplies to households, according to Reuters.
Local energy company Tirasteploenergo urged residents to dress warmly, hang thick curtains or blankets over windows and balcony doors, and use electric heaters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a post on the Telegram messaging app, said the end of gas supply through his country to Europe was “one of Russia’s biggest defeats” and urged the United States to supply more gas to Europe.
“The more there is on the market from Europe’s real partners, the faster we will overcome the last negative effects of European energy dependence on Russia,” he said.
Europe’s “joint task” now, he added, was to support ex-Soviet Moldova “in this time of energy transformation”.
The European Commission stated the EU had prepared for the cut-off.
Europe’s Flexible Gas Infrastructure
“The gas infrastructure of Europe is flexible enough to provide gas of non-Russian origin,” a spokesperson for the Commission said.
“It has been reinforced with considerable new LNG (liquefied natural gas) import capacities since 2022.”
Russia and the former Soviet Union spent half a century building up a major share of the European gas market, which at its peak stood at around 35%.
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But the EU has reduced its dependence on Russian energy since the start of the Ukraine War by buying more piped gas from Norway and LNG from Qatar and the US.
