The operator of Ukraine’s gas transmission network announced on Tuesday that it has been forced to temporarily interrupt the transit of a third of the gas it transports from Russia to Europe due to “force majeure”.
“The occupants’ actions led to the interruption of gas transit through the Sojranivka connection point,” the company, GTSOU, said in a statement.
A “cause of force majeure” makes it impossible to continue transporting gas through that measurement point, on the border with Russia, and the Novopskov compression station, both located in the eastern province of Lugansk and in territory occupied by Moscow forces.
Until now, 32.6 million cubic meters of gas per day passed through this station, which represents a third of the total that Ukraine transports to Europe, according to the GTSOU.
Several of the operator’s facilities are located as a result of the war in territories occupied by Russia and Russia does not have operational or technological control over them, the statement added.
In addition, the “interference of the occupation forces in the technical processes and the changes in the modes of operation”, which include “unauthorized extraction of gas”, have endangered “the stability and security of the gas transport system of Ukraine as a whole.
Under the terms of the transit contract with Russia’s Gazprom, these events constitute “force majeure circumstances that make it impossible to fulfill the obligations” described in it, the company justified.
However, the GTSOU pointed out that temporarily and in order to continue supplying gas to Europe in the planned volume, “there is a possibility” of transferring the volume of gas in question from the Sojranivka interconnection point to that of Sudzha, further north.
This metering station, through which 77 million cubic meters of gas pass daily, is located in territory controlled by Ukraine.
GTSOU concluded by noting that it has “repeatedly” informed the Russian state company Gazprom of “threats” to gas transit produced by Russian forces and has demanded an end to “interference”, but such calls “have been ignored. “.
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