Ukraine will end the transit of Russian oil and gas to Europe starting January 1, 2025, according to a interview with Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine.
This move is predicted to have a major impact on Europe’s energy supply, which has relied heavily on Ukrainian routes for Russian energy.
Podolyak noted that while Ukraine will stop the transit of Russian energy, it is open to handling gas transit from other countries like Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
However, this will require new logistical arrangements with a clear role for Ukraine.
"Let me remind you that in addition to gas, the Druzhba oil pipeline will also stop operations on January 1, 2025. Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary received oil through it. According to the EU resolution, they must find ways to diversify oil supplies and stop transiting Russian oil through Ukraine. The same applies to gas," Podolyak said.
The current agreement between Russia's Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftogaz, signed in 2019, expires at the end of 2024. Under this deal, Russia was committed to supplying 225 billion cubic meters of gas over five years, with transit fees paid to Ukraine.
In October 2023, Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov confirmed that Ukraine does not plan to renew the contract. He explained that the decision not to end the contract early was to avoid disrupting the EU countries' gas supply, not out of concern for potential legal action from Gazprom.
This decision will push European countries, especially Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, to find alternative sources of oil and gas as they can no longer rely on Ukrainian routes for Russian energy.
