EU Prepared for Russian Gas Disruption via Ukraine from 2025
The European Union is prepared to face a potential disruption in Russian gas supplies via Ukraine from January 1, 2025, according to a European Commission spokesperson, Anna-Kaisa Itkonen.
Itkonen, speaking to RIA Nowosti, said that the EU had been preparing for such a scenario for over a year, in close coordination with its member states, to ensure alternative sources of supply for the affected countries.
The European Commission has been working on diversifying the EU’s energy sources, and the continent’s gas infrastructure is flexible enough to accommodate non-Russian gas imports, Itkonen added. Since 2022, the infrastructure has been strengthened by new liquefied natural gas (LNG) import capacities, enhancing the security of supply.
The current five-year agreement on the transit of Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine is set to expire on December 31. In the past year, the Russian gas company Gazprom delivered around 15 billion cubic meters of fuel through this route, equivalent to 4.5% of the EU’s total energy consumption. The only remaining source of Russian gas for Europeans is the Balkan Stream pipeline, which receives fuel from the TurkStream.