In a move that could affect gas supplies to the old continent, Ukraine suspended the flow of gas through its territory through the breakaway region of Lugansk in the east of the country, a transit point that Kyiv says transports nearly a third of the fuel transported from Russia to Europe, and blamed Moscow for the move, saying that The streams will be transferred to another location.
“Getso”, which operates the Ukrainian gas system, said that “the presence of the Russian occupation forces near infrastructures in Sukhranivka and Novobskov in Lugansk does not allow to secure the normal flow of gas, which is a force majeure, and this requires converting it to a second transit point in Sudga.”
Force majeure is a clause that is triggered when a company is exposed to something outside its control.
For its part, the Russian energy giant “Gazprom” confirmed the decline in Russian gas pumped to Europe through the territory of Ukraine, noting at the same time that it had not received any confirmation of force majeure conditions.
“It is technologically impossible to transfer all sizes to the Sudga connection point, further to the west, as proposed by Gutsu,” said Gazprom spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov.
According to the figures published by “Getsu”, yesterday, the quantities that cross in Sukhranivka have fallen to zero, and it is expected that those crossing in Sudga will rise, but it is not enough to compensate for the decrease.
The decrease in the volume of gas passing through Ukraine at these points may reach 16.2 million cubic meters, or about 18%, and the quantities of gas expected to pass through will become about 72 million cubic meters, compared to 88 million the previous day, according to “Getsu”.
Ukraine is an important transit route for Russian gas consumed by Europe. Both Moscow and Kiev maintained this flow despite the Russian attack on Ukraine that began on February 24.
At a time when Europeans are working to reduce their dependence sharply on Russian oil and gas, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed that his country has enough buyers for its energy resources outside the scope of Western countries.
In a press conference with his Omani counterpart Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidi in Muscat, his second stop after Algeria, Lavrov said yesterday: “Let the West pay more than it used to pay to the Russian Federation, and let it explain to its people why they should become poorer.”
On the other hand, he stressed that “Moscow does not want a war in Europe, but Western countries want to see Russia’s defeat in its military campaign in Ukraine.”
Omani media reported that Lavrov visited the Sultanate, where he met Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, while Oman confirmed its commitment to the “OPEC +” agreement to produce oil.