Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the country's intention to abandon the transit of Russian natural gas through its territory after the expiration of the current contract. This statement was made in the context of strategic decisions regarding Ukraine's energy policy and its dependence on gas supplies from the Russian Federation.
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine will refuse to transit Russian gas after the current contract expires. However, Kyiv seeks to maintain its role as a transit country. Therefore, the state is negotiating the shipment of natural gas from Azerbaijan to the EU.
A possible agreement to replace Russian gas with Azerbaijani gas is “one of the proposals” being discussed. Ukrainian government officials are currently working on it, the head of state said in an interview with Bloomberg.
“Alternative steps are now being considered, how we can use the pipe with another gas supplier, another country. Negotiations are ongoing. We do not want to extend the gas contract with the Russian Federation. We do not want them to make money here,” Zelensky said.
The President added that Ukraine seeks to supply gas to “European countries that are attractive to us.” This would also indicate support for these states as Ukraine begins its EU accession process. According to the publication, Russia currently supplies about 15 billion cubic meters of gas to the region per year via Ukraine, mainly to Slovakia and Austria.
Azerbaijan, in turn, has said it wants to increase its gas exports to Europe. However, the country has not yet secured enough long-term agreements to invest in further production. The publication recalled that the current agreement between Naftogaz-Ukraine and Russia's Gazprom was signed in 2019. Last month, European officials held talks on maintaining gas via Ukraine.
The agreement expires at the end of 2024. Using Ukraine's extensive pipelines would help provide important financing for an economy where transit revenues were about $1 billion in 2021, the material says.
Transit of Russian gas through Ukraine
On January 25, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that Ukraine is ready to pass Russian gas through its territory even after the current transit agreement expires in 2024. Allegedly, certain agreements were reached during a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
After that, Shmyhal's press service published the Prime Minister's response to Robert Fico's words. The Ukrainian Prime Minister assured that the transit of Russian gas will not be continued.
