MOSCOW: Ukraine’s decision to end an agreement allowing Russia to pump gas via its territory will hurt Europe more than it will Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.
The agreement signed in 2019 has generated revenue for both Kyiv and Moscow, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week the deal would not be renewed when it expires at the end of the year.
“Ukraine is refusing our transit, which means that the volumes of gas coming to Europe will be reduced,” Putin said during a question and answer session at Russia’s Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.
“There will be damage for them. For us, there will be a certain reduction in income, but that’s okay. Gazprom will supply more domestically,” Putin added.
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Europe’s gas imports from Russia have plunged more than 90 percent since Moscow launched its offensive in Ukraine in 2022, forcing the Kremlin to look to Asian buyers like China to boost its income.
Most transit routes for Moscow to export gas to Europe have been shut off or rendered unusable since the conflict began, including the now defunct Nord Stream pipelines that were blown up in September 2022.
Russia is still able to transit gas via the Sudzha entry point, which Ukraine claimed to capture in its cross-border offensive last month, but this route will also end when the 2019 agreement expires.
Russian energy giant Gazprom used to generate huge revenues for the Russian government, but has faced financial difficulties as the EU cuts purchases.
Experts quoted by the Russian business daily Vedomosti estimate the loss of Ukrainian transit routes could cost the company another $5.5 billion a year, or six percent of its revenue.
Ukraine currently collects around $800 million in transit fees from the deal, approximately 0.5 percent of its GDP, though that does not account for the costs of operating the system.
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