LONDON — Ukraine cut off the flow of Russian natural gas through its territory to Europe at 7 a.m. Wednesday, as a long-standing agreement expired, officials in Kiev said.
“We interrupted the transportation of Russian gas, this is a historic event,” said Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko. a statement. “Russia is losing markets, will suffer financial losses.”
The move was expected, as Galushchenko and other officials said they were preparing to halt the transnational pipeline and were discussing it with neighboring nations.
“We have carried out a number of stress tests of our gas system to ensure that we will be able to operate stably after the shutdown of the transmission, guaranteeing the gas supply of consumers,” Galushchenko. he said on Ukrainian television last week, according to his office.
Natural gas exported by Russia through Ukraine it has been used for a long time European countries, including Slovakia, pushed Ukraine and Russia to reach an agreement to continue the transition.
Russian gas giant Gazprom confirmed the suspension, telling the state-run TASS news agency that Kiev had refused to extend the transport deal.
“The supply of Russian gas through Ukraine was stopped at 08:00 Moscow time,” Gazprom said in a statement, according to TASS.
The agreement provided for the annual passage of about 40 billion cubic meters of Russian gas through the territory of Ukraine, according to TASS.
