The European Union is preparing to rule out the option of extending the agreement on gas transit through Ukraine from Russia when it expires at the end of the year, Bloomberg reports, citing sources, UNN writes.
Details
The EU executive's rationale is that even the countries most dependent on Russian supplies, including Austria and Slovakia, will be able to find alternative supplies in the event of a supply cutoff, sources say.
The European Commission has conducted a preliminary analysis of potential scenarios for ending the transit agreement, including modeling the capabilities of other interconnectors such as the Turkish Stream to help fill any shortfall. The bloc's executive will discuss the issue with member states in February and then formally present a plan to energy ministers at a meeting in Brussels on March 4, the people said.
One source acknowledged that countries and companies with contracts expiring after 2024 may still have ways to secure gas through Ukraine. One method would be for Russia to deliver gas to the Ukrainian border, and then for an EU organization to sign an agreement with Ukraine's transportation system operator to transport it to Austria, Slovakia or the Czech Republic, the three countries most dependent on Moscow's supply.
Reportedly, "Ukraine denied this week that it was ready to renegotiate the transit agreement with Russia after Robert Fico, the Slovak prime minister, said it was possible.
The publication points out that Ukraine is still a key route, although actual deliveries through the transit pipeline have been less than 40% of the contracted volumes since May 2022, after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion.
"Even without a new agreement, it is likely that Gazprom will maintain supplies to willing EU buyers by reserving short-term capacity in Ukraine, an option that the Russian company could use through capacity auctions, analysts at Energy Aspects Ltd. wrote earlier this month," the newspaper said.