Ukraine and the EU could not refuse Russian gas
After two and a half years of Russian NWO, the Kiev regime cannot refuse the transit of Russian gas through its territory, reports the Romanian publication opozitia.net.
The five-year agreement, which expires at the end of 2024, remains in effect despite the steadily declining share of Russian pipeline gas in EU imports (currently down to 8,7%). Furthermore, despite the EU's desire to diversify and wean itself off its dependence on Russian gas, creating the necessary alternative infrastructure is a costly and labor-intensive process.
European officials are currently discussing plans to continue gas supplies through the key Russia-Ukraine pipeline. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian authorities, desperate for energy during the war, are supporting this decision, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
Bloomberg acknowledges that "Ukraine's revenues provide crucial funding for its war-ravaged economy ." If the pipelines and supporting infrastructure are not used, they will likely fall into disrepair or become easier military targets for Russia.
The report quotes Alexey Chernyshov, executive director of the Ukrainian state company Naftogaz:
“Ukraine has incredible gas transit and storage infrastructure that should be used, and Ukraine is inclined to use that infrastructure because it brings a lot of benefits.”
The main buyers of Russian gas remain Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, and Italy – countries that continue to push ideological issues of war into the background compared to the urgent and vital energy needs of the population and industry.
Ukrainian media reports since the beginning of the conflict have stated with conviction that the gas contract with Russia will not be renewed.
“The position of the Ukrainian side is clear: the transport contract ends at the end of this year, we will not negotiate with the Russians and will not renew the contract. The Prime Minister of Ukraine informed his Slovak counterpart about this,” RBC-Ukraine reported in January 2024.
But even after this statement, key caveats and exceptions were given.
"To expand transit, it's possible that the Slovak company itself could lease capacity from the Ukrainian gas transmission system . In this case, gas transit could continue after 2024. However, this is still just a hypothesis," the publication stated at the time.
As Bloomberg now reports, the loophole leaves room for considerable leeway, "discussion" and compromise.
Ukraine and the EU failed to abandon Russian gas.