MOSCOW: Decades of Moscow’s hegemony over Europe’s energy markets came to an end on New Year’s Day when Russian gas exports through Ukraine via Soviet-era pipelines were stopped.
Despite almost three years of conflict, the gas continued to flow, but Russia’s gas company Gazprom reported that it had ceased at 0500 GMT when Ukraine declined to extend a transit deal.
In contrast to 2022, when declining Russian supplies drove prices to all-time highs, exacerbated a cost-of-living crisis, and hurt the bloc’s competitiveness, the much anticipated halt will not affect prices for EU consumers.
Hungary will continue to get Russian gas through the TurkStream pipeline beneath the Black Sea, while Slovakia and Austria, the only two EU countries to purchase Russian gas through Ukraine, have arranged for alternate supplies.
However, early on Wednesday, Transdniestria, a borderless pro-Russian region of Ukraine’s neighbor Moldova that similarly depends on transit movements, turned off hot water and heating supplies to homes. Transit tolls might cost Ukraine up to $1 billion annually. Gas sales will cost Gazprom $5 billion.
