The gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine could threaten some European supplies in the midst of the war

Naftogaz said Russian forces occupying parts of eastern Ukraine have made it impossible to operate in these areas or communicate with facilities that control the flow of gas from Russia through Ukraine to Europe. He claims that the Ukrainian gas transmission system operator (GOTSU) can no longer “carry out continuous and effective operational and technological control” of its facilities in the Russian-occupied area. Naftogaz said the decision to suspend transit in these regions could affect a third of Russia’s gas exports via Ukraine, accounting for less than 3% of natural gas demand in the EU and the UK. the data comes from the International Energy Agency.

The company said Russian authorities were also taking gas from Ukrainian transit streams without authorization. The Washington Post was unable to independently verify the company’s claims.

The move comes after EU member states failed to re-agree terms for a possible ban on Russia’s oil imports on Wednesday in response to the war in Ukraine. The European Union has said it plans to cut gas imports from Russia by two thirds by the end of the year, but has not promised an outright ban, President Biden announced in March.

GTSOU, which operates the Ukrainian gas network, said gas from Russia will no longer be received as of 7:00 am local time on Wednesday at the Sokhranivka crossing on the border between Russia and the disputed Donbass region.

6:55 am local time, According to GTSOU, Gazprom “has closed the gas valve on the main Soyuz pipeline to Russia”, thus suspending the passage through Sokhranivka. Gazprom shipped 72 million cubic meters of gas to Europe on Wednesday, Reuters reported. It was reportedly down about a third the previous day, according to the company.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov asked about the delay in the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine. I said: “Russia has always fulfilled and intends to fulfill all its obligations under the treaty.

Naftogaz CEO Yuri Vitrenko said Wednesday that “pro-Russian separatists” backed by the Russian military are “stealing the gas Ukraine should be responsible for” and that Russia is ironic. Criminal Ukraine Stealing gas from pipelines in the past: this accusation was denied by Kiev.

GTSOU said it detected “unauthorized entry of gas in transit” from pipelines into the Russian-controlled areas of Donbas, allegedly occurring on May 9.

“Because of direct intervention in the regimes of the occupiers of Ukraine [gas transmission system]”GTSOU had to declare a force majeure situation at the entrance to Sokhranivka,” said the operator. I said.

Naftogaz said he informed Gazprom that it can no longer continue to transport gas through Sokhranivka and offers Gazprom an alternative: divert the affected gas to another Ukrainian-controlled transit station. He said moving to another station, called Suja, would not entail any additional costs or technical problems and would allow Russia to “continue transit through Ukraine and fulfill its obligations towards its European partners”.

But a Gazprom spokesperson said Tuesday that Ukraine’s proposal was “technologically impossible” and the company saw no reason to declare it a “force majeure”.

Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kuprianov said work on the Sokhranivka crossing and the nearby Novopskov processor were not hampered by the conflict, adding that the transfer of Gazprom’s supply to Suja would violate the 2019 agreement on gas volume distribution.

Meanwhile, Naftogaz’s Vitrenko said Wednesday that the company cannot “confirm Gazprom’s claims that it is technically impossible to transfer transitions from Sokhranivka to Suja IP,” adding that Gazprom has already done so.

Emily Rauhala contributed to this report.