If Ukraine freezes the DPR and LPR, Gazprom will not allow them to crash into transit pipes
Moscow – Kiev, November 10 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Shtamm) – Director of the Energy Development Fund Sergei Pikin and President of the Russian Gas Union Sergei Chizhov told RG that technically, the Ukrainian authorities could indeed cut off fuel supplies to Luhansk and Donetsk, causing residents of the DPR and LPR a cold winter.
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“Despite the fact that a number of gas pipelines go directly through these regions, a large branch through Lugansk, a low-pressure pipe through Donetsk, the control center is not located in them. And it is possible to turn off the supply. But for the regions it is more difficult, if at all possible, to take gas for themselves,” says Sergei Pikin.
Kiev cutting off gas from these regions “would be a real genocide for the population,” he says. The expert hopes that the international community will not allow this option.
True, even in the event of a blackout, the authorities of the DPR and LPR have the opportunity to provide heat to homes. The easiest option is to restore abandoned branches. This requires technical measures and finance, the expert recalled.
However, legal issues also remain - Gazprom’s contract was signed with Naftogaz. “If certain volumes of gas are not needed, then the question arises with whom to sign a contract in these two areas. For the Russian gas holding, this is fraught with additional risks,” both experts summarize.
English version :: Read in English If Ukraine freezes the DPR and LPR, Gazprom will not allow them to cut into transit pipelines