This is reported by RBK-Ukraine referencing Reuters. The information comes from Kontrakty.UA.
According to the agency, gas supplies continued despite nearly three years of war; however, Ukraine halted transit as of 7 AM on January 1, 2025.
The anticipated cessation of supplies will not affect prices for consumers in the European Union, unlike in 2022, when reduced supplies from Russia caused record price increases, exacerbating the cost-of-living crisis and impacting the bloc's competitiveness.
The last remaining buyers of Russian gas from the EU via Ukraine, such as Slovakia and Austria, have organized alternative supplies. Hungary will continue to receive Russian gas through the "Turkish Stream," which runs through two pipelines on the bottom of the Black Sea.
Transnistria, a region of Moldova occupied by Russia that also depends on transit flows, disconnected heating and hot water supplies to households on Wednesday morning.
The European Commission stated that the EU has prepared for the shutdown.
"The European gas infrastructure is sufficiently flexible to supply non-Russian gas. Since 2022, it has been strengthened with significant new LNG (liquefied natural gas) import capacities," said a Commission representative.
Since the onset of Russia's war against Ukraine, the EU has reduced its dependence on Russian energy sources by purchasing more pipeline gas from Norway and LNG from Qatar and the USA.
Ukraine, which declined to extend the transit agreement, stated that Europe has already decided to abandon Russian gas.
"We have stopped the transit of Russian gas. This is a historic event. Russia is losing markets, incurring financial losses," said Ukraine's Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko.
Cost for Both Sides
Ukraine will lose approximately $800 million annually in transit fees from Russia, while Gazprom will lose about $5 billion in gas sales.
Russia and the former Soviet Union spent half a century building a significant share of the European gas market, which at its peak accounted for around 35%, but the war has nearly destroyed this business for Gazprom.
The "Yamal-Europe" pipeline, which runs through Belarus, has also been shut down, and in 2022, the "Nord Stream" route through the Baltic Sea to Germany was blown up.
In total, various routes delivered a record amount of gas to Europe in 2018 — 201 billion cubic meters. In 2023, Russia supplied approximately 15 billion cubic meters of gas through Ukraine, significantly down from 65 billion cubic meters when the last five-year contract came into effect in 2020.
It's worth noting that the five-year contract between Naftogaz and Gazprom ended on January 1, 2025. Ukraine shut off the gas valve at 7 AM on January 1, depriving Moscow of approximately $5-7 billion in annual revenue.
As Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko stated, "citizens will not feel this event at all, because we will ensure that gas, and consequently heat, reaches every Ukrainian household."