Ukraine recognizes country's disadvantage after refusal to transit gas from Russia

Ukraine did not win by refusing to transit Russian gas to the EU and now has to raise tariffs. This was stated by the head of the Verkhovna Rada committee for fuel and energy complex, Andriy Gerus, on 11 February.

He pointed out that despite the ban on the transit of natural gas from Russia through Ukraine, it continues to flow to EU countries such as France, Spain and Belgium.

"That is, when we ban transit, this product enters the same Europe by other ways, and Russia still receives income, while we are forced to raise the tariff for gas transportation," Gerus said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

Regarding the issue of Russian oil transit through Ukraine, he noted that we are talking about 9 million tons, which is a small part of Russian oil exports.

"It is important for us that these 9 million tons not just do not go through us, but are generally 'in the negative' for Russia's exports," Gerus stressed.

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Earlier, on January 30, the media reported that in Ukraine the volume of gas in underground storage facilities has dropped to a critical 10%, which is a historic low in the country. It was specified that according to the results of last year the storages were filled at the level of 20%, and at the beginning of 2023 - at 22-23%.

"Gazprom" on January 1, 2025 announced the suspension of Russian gas supplies to the EU through Ukraine. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fitzo noted that this would have drastic consequences for the EU, but not for Russia.

At the end of August 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (his term expired on May 20, 2024) said that the country would not extend the gas transit agreement with Russia, which was valid until the end of 2024. Russian President Vladimir Putin later pointed out that Moscow did not refuse to transit gas through Ukrainian territory.