Major EU companies in favor of preserving transit through Ukraine

Key Central European companies have signed a declaration supporting the continuation of gas transit through Ukraine in 2025. This was reported by the Bloomberg news agency on 17 December, citing a statement by Slovak gas company SPP.

The signatories also include SPP-owned gas network operator Eustream AS, Hungarian MOL Uzbek Oil and Gas Plc and MVM, trade associations and major industrial customers from Hungary, Austria, Italy and Slovakia.

"Continued gas supplies from the Ukrainian side will help maintain low gas prices and help maintain the competitiveness of industries," the text of the document reads.

It is noted that Slovakia itself will cost more than €220 million ($231 million) to purchase and transit gas from another source, while in Ukraine "will lead to irreversible damage to the Ukrainian gas infrastructure."

According to SPP Chairman and CEO Vojtech Ferenc, the declaration will be sent to European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen to give her first-hand knowledge of the threat to the region's energy and economic security.

The transit contract for pumping gas from Russia expires on December 31. An EU spokesman said in response to the agency's inquiry that the European Commission was not interested in the continuation of these supplies through Ukraine.

Who was hit by the termination of gas transit through Ukraine. Parsing

Earlier, on December 13, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fitzo said that the country was negotiating the continuation of gas supplies through Ukrainian territory. At the same time, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said on 16 December that Kiev was not going to prolong the gas transit agreement. In its turn, against the backdrop of the situation in Moldova, a state of emergency has been imposed since December 16 due to the threat of a humanitarian crisis.

In November, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak pointed out that European countries were interested in the continuation of gas transit from Russia through Ukraine, and the Russian side was ready to supply energy resources. At the same time, due to Ukraine's unreliability in this sphere, a number of states found themselves in a difficult situation, he noted.