Putin warns Europe of gas price surge as Ukraine ends transit
The agreement allowing Russian gas to transit through Ukraine to Europe will expire in a few days. Our eastern neighbors have already announced that they do not intend to extend it. The Kremlin is trying to put on a brave face, but the Russian giant Gazprom will lose a few billion dollars annually because of this. Meanwhile, Putin is threatening Europe with higher gas prices.
In an interview with the Russian news agency TASS, Vladimir Putin stated that gas prices in Europe will increase after Ukraine ends the transit of Russian fuel through its territory, which is supposed to happen soon. He recently downplayed the decision's impact on Russia.
"The transit agreement will no longer exist, that's clear. Ukraine refused to extend it despite receiving 700-800 million dollars annually. But that's fine. We will survive, Gazprom will survive," Putin said at the annual press conference summarizing the year at the Kremlin.
This concerns the agreement between Ukraine's Naftogaz and Gazprom, signed in 2019, regarding the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe. Ukraine decided not to extend it; the transit will end on January 1, 2025.
As reported in money.pl, after Poland cut off pipeline supplies (on December 31, 2022, when the so-called Yamal contract, Poland's long-term gas agreement with Gazprom, expired). The EU imposed restrictions on importing LNG from Russia; it was through Ukraine that Russian gas-powered countries such as Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, and Austria. And now Kyiv is turning off the tap. As recently noted by "Rzeczpospolita," Gazprom will lose at least 5.3 billion dollars annually because of Ukraine's decision.
Not everyone is happy with this decision. It will hit Slovakia hard, as they still rely on raw material supplies transported by our eastern neighbors. The Kremlin is also not happy with this turn of events, as evidenced by Vladimir Putin's latest comment.
