Russia slashes EU-bound gas transit through Ukraine

Daily exports to the bloc have been declining since the beginning of January

Russian energy giant Gazprom has cut its daily volume of gas transit to the EU via Ukraine by 23% to 25.1 million cubic meters (mcm), the company announced on Thursday.

Earlier, the Ukrainian gas transmission system operator reported a decrease in gas pumping volumes. The company said it had received an application from Gazprom for transit through the Sudzha entry point in the amount of 24.4 million mcm.

“Gazprom supplies Russian gas for transit through the territory of Ukraine in the amount confirmed by the Ukrainian side through the Sudzha… Application for 'Sokhranovka' was rejected,” Gazprom’s spokesperson Sergey Kupriyanov told reporters.

Ukraine shut down transit through the Sokhranovka station, a key gas transit route which handled about a third of the Russian gas flowing through the country to the EU, in early May, citing “interference by the occupying forces.”

Russian daily gas deliveries to the EU through Ukraine have been declining since the beginning of this month. Flows via the Sudzha entry point were at 35.5 mcm in early January, down from more than 40 mcm in the past few months.

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Some experts attribute the lower volumes to unusually warm winter temperatures seen across much of Europe and to high volumes of gas in underground storage facilities.

Gazprom’s supplies to the EU, its largest customer, were reduced last year in the aftermath of the bloc’s sweeping anti-Russia sanctions.

Gas transit through Ukraine remains the only route for Russian supplies to the countries of Western and Central Europe after the September sabotage attacks rendered the Nord Stream pipeline inoperable. Gazprom also exports gas via the Turkish Stream and Blue Stream pipelines to Southern and South-Eastern Europe.

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