The cut of the fluid in Sojranovka will mean the interruption of the supply of almost a third of the fuel destined for the EU
The Ukrainian operator GTS (OGTSU) has announced in a statement that, as of today, it will no longer pump Russian gas bound for Europe on the Sojranovka route due to “force majeure”, one of the most important transit lines, since it supplies almost a third of the fuel to the European Union. The measure affects the Sojranovka metering station and the Novopskov border compressor station, both located in the Lugansk region, the note indicates.
The information from GTS underlines that the circumstance of “force majeure” is due to the fact that “as a consequence of Russia’s military aggression, Ukraine cannot exercise operational and technological control over the Novopskov station and other facilities that are are in territory not controlled by kyiv’.
“Russia’s interference in technological processes and unauthorized gas extraction have endangered the stability and security of the operations of the entire Ukrainian gas transmission system,” it stresses. OGTSU also clarifies that almost a third of the gas (up to 32.6 million cubic meters per day) from Russia to Europe transits through the Novopskov compressor station.
The Ukrainian operator points out that for the transit of gas to Europe and “according to the terms of the agreement”, it is possible to “temporarily transfer inaccessible capacities to another entry point, that of Sudzha, which is located in territory controlled by Ukraine”
For its part, the Russian energy giant, Gazprom, has reported that there is “no obstacle to continuing work in the previous mode” and claims to have received “no confirmation of force majeure circumstances” from Ukraine. “The transfer of gas volumes to the station proposed by kyiv is technologically impossible,” he says in the information released by Gazprom.
The Russian agency Interfax writes that 24% of the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe passes through Sojranovka while 76% of the remaining volume is pumped through Sudzha. On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that separatist forces from the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic and the Russian Army managed to break through the defenses of Ukrainian troops near the town of Popásnaya in the Lugansk region.
In early March, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kuprianov said that the Russian company “will continue to supply gas to Europe through Ukraine on a regular basis in accordance with the requests of European consumers.” Gas prices in the EU have skyrocketed due to the harshness of last winter, to the lack of supply from Russia, which is based on the fact that the contracts were not signed on time, and, above all, to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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