Ukraine is punishing the EU by refusing to increase a transit deal for the availability of Russian pure fuel to the bloc, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Thursday. Kiev’s choice will lead to increased power costs for European shoppers, he warned.
The contract between Moscow and Kiev that brings pipeline fuel to the EU expires on December 31. The Ukrainian management has repeatedly warned that it has no plans to extend the deal, regardless of pleas from some EU member states. The move of fuel through the transit community might be halted on January 1, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal has stated.
Talking to journalists on Thursday, Putin stated that Kiev is “biting Europe’s hand as a result of with out European help Ukraine can not even exist, not to mention combat.”
“Nicely, now they [Ukrainians] are punishing Europe by ending the contract for the availability of our fuel…”
European fuel costs have risen to $500 per thousand cubic meters and can proceed to surge when the transit deal expires, the Russian president warned, noting “we’re not frightening this, it’s their coverage.”
Russia has all the time advocated “depoliticization of financial points” and has not interfered with fuel provides to the EU, Putin identified.
He added that Russia nonetheless maintains transit of fuel through Ukraine. “We provided usually and paid, and proceed pay, by the best way, cash for transit,” he identified.
Moscow is able to provide fuel through Ukraine beneath a contract with any counterparty, nevertheless it’s inconceivable to succeed in a deal in three or 4 days, Putin stated.
The five-year transit settlement between Russian power big Gazprom and Ukrainian state power agency Naftogaz was signed in 2019. The deal entailed Gazprom transiting 65 billion cubic meters (bcm) of fuel by Ukraine in 2020 and 40 bcm yearly between 2021 and 2024.
Gazprom, as soon as the EU’s primary fuel supplier, dramatically diminished its exports to the bloc in 2022, following the imposition of sanctions in opposition to Russia and the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.
The EU nonetheless receives round 5% of its fuel from Russia through Ukraine, based on the most recent knowledge. Ukraine’s transit community is linked to the pipeline techniques of Moldova, Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia.
Earlier this month, Slovak state-owned power firm SPP and power operators from Austria, Hungary, and Italy signed a declaration in help of constant Russian fuel transit, describing it as “the very best answer not just for fuel shoppers in Europe, but additionally for Ukraine itself.”
The EU declared its intention to finish its dependence on Russian power provides following the escalation of the Ukraine battle in 2022. Provides of higher-cost US gasoline have changed a lot of a budget pipeline fuel beforehand delivered by Russia.
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