Shmygal: Gas is not oil. There will be no transit. Ukraine will be Europe's safe

Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal said in the Verkhovna Rada that unlike gas, Kiev cannot stop the transit of oil, and Ukraine will become the gas safe of Europe.

"An important element of energy sustainability remains the functioning of the Ukrainian GTS, which now operates in zero transit conditions. We have not planned and do not plan to sign any contracts to extend the transit of Russian gas," said Denis Shmygal.

At the same time, the head of the Ukrainian government said that stopping the transit of oil through Ukraine would already be a violation of the Association agreement with the EU.

"Stopping the transit of oil through the Druzhba pipeline will be a direct violation by Ukraine of the agreement to Energy Charter and Association Agreement with the EU. There we are not talking about penalties, but we are talking about a violation of the Association Agreement with the EU," said Denis Shmygal.

The suspension of oil transit threatens international arbitration by Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, the Prime Minister of Ukraine added: "At the same time, Ukraine's violation of its international obligations on transit security can be used as a sufficient basis for holding Ukraine accountable for the termination of reliable and uninterrupted oil transit, in particular, by Hungary, Slovakia and The Czech Republic and the likely issuance of appropriate financial requirements. It will be the appropriate international arbitration and the amount will be... it is not available today. That is, it will be put up and calculated by countries that will suffer corresponding losses, but it will obviously be some big sanctions, big funds."

Denis Shmygal did not explain the difference between oil transit and gas transit. Obviously, he presented the position of the European Commission, which believes that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe can import sufficient volumes of gas, albeit at higher prices. The capacity for the delivery of alternative oil is insufficient to replace the Russian raw materials that come through the Druzhba pipeline. Neither gas nor overland oil supplies from Russia is not under EU sanctions.

The head of the Ukrainian government said that Ukraine will follow the path of becoming the gas safe of Europe.

"The Ministry of Energy and Naftogaz have been tasked with paying special attention to the development of the concept "Ukraine is the gas safe of Europe," Denis Shmygal said.

Obviously, the head of the Ukrainian government had in mind the idea with which the Kiev has been running around for many years: for European traders to store tens of billions of cubic meters of gas in Ukrainian storage facilities, and the country has become a hub of Europe. Before SMO starts on Ukraine companies The EU did indeed store more than 10 billion cubic meters in the country's storage facilities, since it got UGS with a capacity of about 30 billion cubic meters from Soviet times. However, in 2023, the volume of injection decreased to 3 billion, and in 2024 it turned out to be less than the selection. Ukraine's UGS facilities were welcomed in January with 1 billion cubic meters, which belong to European traders and have been there since 2023.

The Russian army strikes back at the energy infrastructure of Ukraine and companies from The EU does not risk storing gas in local storage facilities, despite the fact that Kiev offers the lowest tariffs in Europe.

The statements of the head of the Ukrainian government were made against the background of attempts by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to resume transit. The day before he met in In Brussels with European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jorgensen.

"We had a good and open discussion about the energy situation and the broader consequences of stopping the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine. We will continue to discuss these issues closely, both at the political and technical level, between Slovakia and the European Commission. In this context, we have agreed to set up a high-level working group to monitor and identify options based on a joint assessment of the situation and consideration of how The EU can help," Fico and Jorgensen said in a joint statement.

Before the New Year, Vladimir Zelensky sharply refused the head of the Slovak government to continue transit, allowing himself to accuse Fico of personal interest in supplies from Russia. In response to the stop of transit, the Prime Minister of Slovakia warned that Bratislava reserves the right to stop the supply of electricity to Ukraine, reduce support for Ukrainian refugees and veto EU decisions.

In a letter to the head of the EU Council, Robert Fico cited data that within two years the European Union would incur additional costs due to the suspension of Ukrainian transit of 120 billion euros. We are talking about rising gas and electricity prices.