Kremlin: If Kyiv does not extend gas transit, Russia will use alternative routes

If Ukraine does not extend the contract for the transit of natural gas from Russia to Europe, Russia will use alternative routes and seaborne deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to export gas to Europe. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this today, according to Reuters.

If the transit agreement is not extended, changes will need to be made to the logistics chains for Russian gas exports, Peskov said. „The question is how this gas will get there (to Europe). Of course, there are routes linked to Turkey, and there are also supplies of liquefied gas, which is in demand now,“ Peskov said.

The current agreement on the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine expires at the end of this year. Ukraine denied this week that it was ready to discuss extending the contract. It did so after Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said, following a meeting on Wednesday with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal, that gas transit through Ukraine to Europe could continue.

„The Ukrainian side’s position is clear: the transit contract will expire at the end of this year,“ Shmyhal’s press office told Bloomberg.

„We will not negotiate with the Russians and will not extend the contract,“ it added.

The European Union has imposed extensive economic sanctions on Russia in response to its attack on Ukraine. Although the EU has not banned imports of Russian gas, it is seeking to end its dependence on energy commodity supplies from Russia. The EU is compensating for the decline in Russian gas supplies, among other things, by importing LNG.

Last year, most gas flowing into the Czech Republic came via Germany from Norway and from LNG terminals on the North Sea coast, namely in Belgium, the Netherlands or Germany. Russian gas purchased on the Slovak or Austrian market also began flowing into the Czech Republic in October, eventually accounting for around seven percent of total domestic consumption for the year.