Ukraine to Stop Russian Gas Transit to Europe via Sokhranovka Station

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Ukrainian operator GTS has said that gas transit to Europe through the Sokhranovka station will be stopped from 7 am on Wednesday, 11 May.

"The State Customs Service informs that from 7.00 am, May 11, 2022, gas will not be received into the GTS of Ukraine at the physical connection point ‘Sokhranovka’”, the statement on the operator's website says.

According to the operator, "force majeure circumstances" have occurred, making it impossible to continue gas transit through the Sokhranovka station and the Novopskov compressor station, which are under Russian control. It has been noted that almost a third of the gas transit from Russia to Europe passes through Novopskov (up to 32.6 million cubic metres per day).

"In order to fulfil the transit obligations to European partners in full and in accordance with the terms of the agreement, it is possible to temporarily transfer unavailable capacity from Sokhranovka to the physical point of Sudzha in the territory controlled by Ukraine", the operator said.

Russian energy giant Gazprom has confirmed that it has received a notification from the operator GTS about its intention to stop gas transit via the Sokhranovka point. Gazprom said, however, that it sees no signs of the "force majeure" mentioned by the Ukrainian side.

"Today, Gazprom received an official notification from the Transmission System Operator of Ukraine that the Ukrainian side, citing force majeure circumstances, is terminating reception of gas for transit through the Ukrainian gas measuring station Sokhranovka starting 7:00 [04:00 GMT] on May 11," Gazprom spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov said on Telegram, adding that the operator suggests redirecting transit to the Sudzha station.

"In light of that, Gazprom says that it has not received any confirmation of a force majeure, does not see any obstacles for continuing normal operations," Kupriyanov added.

According to Gazprom, Kiev is aware that it is technically impossible to transfer the gas volumes from the suspended Sokhranovka station to the Sudzha station.

"It is technically impossible to transfer the volumes to the Sudzha gas measuring station due to the Russian circulation scheme... and the Ukrainian side knows it well," Kupriyanov explained.

"At the same time, we have received a notification from National Joint Stock Company Naftogaz that if the Russian side continues sending gas to the gas measuring station Sokhranovka, the [gas flow] volumes at the Ukrainian exit points will be reduced accordingly," Kupriyanov noted.

He said that the Russian energy giant fulfills its obligations to European consumers and supplies gas for transit as contracted, with transit services being paid for in full.

Since the start of Russian special military operation in Ukraine, Gazprom has repeatedly said that it has continued gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine in line with its contractual obligations under a five-year transit deal signed with Kiev in December 2019. In March, the total Russian deliveries via Ukraine were estimated at 110 million cubic metres, in accordance with the contract.