A month after the seizure of "Suji": half a billion dollars' worth of gas went to Europe

On August 6, the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked the Kursk region and the Sudzha gas measuring station, through which the only Russian gas transit route through Ukraine passes, came under their control. In a month, more than half a billion dollars' worth of gas was supplied to Europe through the station. Countries The EU is not yet ready to give up Gazprom's fuel, as, indeed, the company itself and Ukraine.

According to the Ukrainian GTS Operator, since August 6, 1.29 billion cubic meters of gas have been supplied through Suja GIS for transit to the European Union and to Moldova. The lion's share went to Slovakia, from where the fuel was supplied to other EU countries.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces captured the Suja GIS a month ago, but supplies have hardly decreased. The average daily transit in August was only 1 million cubic meters lower than in July — 41.6 million cubic meters. Both sides do not comment on the situation at the station, but it is obvious that the level of supplies depends on the requests of Gazprom's European customers.

"As for Ukraine, we are not abandoning this transit, oddly enough," Na said yesterday. At the Eastern Economic Forum, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

At the current gas price at the main EU TTF hub in In the Netherlands, the delivered volumes are equivalent to $ 536 million. Gazprom's revenues will be somewhat different, since exports are carried out under long-term contracts in which the gas price is linked to stock quotes, but with a time lag.

Naftogaz of Ukraine, which acts as an intermediary under the transit contract, also received significant revenues during the month. For 31 days of transportation, the national company could count on $ 71 million.

Earlier, Naftogaz complained that Gazprom had stopped paying for the volumes reserved for the route closed by the Ukrainian operator in May 2022 via GIS Sokhranovka (37.6 million cubic meters per day). At the same time, 72 million cubic meters per day are reserved for Sudzha. And according to the transit agreement, the Russian company is obliged to pay for the transportation of contracted volumes, and not the actual transit.

The lion's share of gas through Ukrainian transit is received by Austria and Slovakia, for which Gazprom's share in imports exceeds 50%. Kiev refuses to conduct direct negotiations on the extension of the transit contract, however, options for mediation by Azerbaijan or a European company are being considered. In Baku and Ankara was told that the EU offers them to export all Caspian gas. At the same time, compensate for it by importing Russian volumes.

Due to sanctions and counter-sanctions, Gazprom's exports have decreased by about five times over the past few years. However, the company's share in European consumption is still high - about 8%. For companies The EU in this situation represents the redirection of LNG to Asia. This was the first reason why European fuel quotes went up in the second half of July. Next, the seizure of GIS "Suja" provoked jumps to $ 460 per thousand cubic meters. After it became clear that the Ukrainian transit remains stable, prices returned to the level of $ 420. This is still more than double the pre-crisis level.