According to a report by energy analyst ExPro Consulting, more than 70% of Ukraine's gas purchases since the beginning of the year have actually come from Russia, transited through Slovakia and Hungary. The two countries reached their highest supply level in July with 568.8 million cubic meters of gas entering Ukraine.
As of October 1, 2025, Ukraine has pumped 12.86 billion cubic meters of gas into underground reserves, nearly the same period last year. The Ukrainian Energy Ministry said that to ensure the country's gas reserves through the winter, it needs to reserve at least 13.2 billion cubic meters of gas - meaning Kiev still lacks an important part to overcome the upcoming heating season.
ExPro experts warn that Ukraine could have to urgently import from the EU again in January 2026, similar to last year's shortage.
The gas flow labelled as European actually still carries the Russian mark, because it is pumped from transit sources in Hungary and Slovakia - two countries that continue to import from Russia.
Meanwhile, the European Commission said last week it was preparing to impose tariffs on Russian oil imports via Slovakia and Hungary to close the remaining energy loophole in the EU network.
However, many countries are still heavily dependent on Russian gas due to the lack of seaports or alternative import routes. Hungary is currently Russia's largest customer in Europe, spending 416 million euros on Russian energy in August, followed by Slovakia (275 million euros), according to the Center for Energy and Clean Air Research (CREA).
Before the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, the EU imported more than 45% of its gas from Russia, a figure that fell to 19,9% in 2024, but could not completely eliminate dependence. A sudden cut is considered almost impossible, especially for landlocked countries such as Hungary and Slovakia.
