At a joint press conference with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico on October 7 in Kiev, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced that the country will not extend the Russian gas transit agreement when it expires at the end of 2024.
Ukraine will not extend the gas transit agreement with Russia after it expires, Prime Minister Shmyhal was quoted as saying by the Ukrainian Government Portal.
According to Mr. Shmyhal, Ukraine's strategic goal is to "impose sanctions on Russian gas, depriving the Kremlin of profits from gas sales to finance the war".
We call on all European countries to completely abandon Russian oil and gas. We understand the deep dependence of some countries, especially Slovakia, on such resources. But we believe in the gradual diversification of supply sources, Prime Minister Shmyhal noted.
At the same time, Mr. Shmyhal said, Ukraine is ready to further fulfill its obligations under the Association Agreement with the European Union (EU) and the Energy Charter.
The current contract on the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine will be valid until the end of 2024.
Ukrainian company Naftogaz will not extend the contract for the transportation of 42 million cubic meters of gas per day. Alternatives are being sought to maintain the operation of the gas pipeline system in Ukraine.
During the talks on October 7, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico also discussed cooperation in the field of energy security and infrastructure projects.
According to Upstream, Russian attacks on large Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities, but not gas pipelines, have reduced the desire of European gas companies to store their gas in Ukraine in the summer for this winter.
Russia has repeatedly launched missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that heavily targeted Ukrainian gas storage sites in the spring.
The strikes are believed to have damaged ground infrastructure at Ukraine's largest underground facility, Bilche - Volitsko - Ugerskoye in the west of the country. The site could store up to 17 billion cubic metres of gas, equivalent to more than half of Ukraine's total underground storage capacity.
Despite Naftogaz's archival marketing efforts and the government's recent decision to keep the storage fee unchanged until at least the end of the first quarter of 2025, European companies have pumped just 335 million cubic meters of gas into Ukraine's archives between April and September this year, compared to 2.8 billion cubic meters in the same period in 2023.
Previous reports suggested that Naftogaz could rely on Azerbaijan's state oil and gas company, Socar, as an intermediary to avoid any direct agreements with Russian oil and gas giant Gazprom, but Baku denied such negotiations.
