MOSCOW, October 29. The rupture of the gas transit agreement between Russia and Ukraine will lead to a jump in prices on the global gas market, Igor Yushkov, leading analyst of the National Energy Security Fund, said in an interview with Lenta.ru.
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"The volumes (of transit — Ed.) are already small, but losing them means further provoking a gas shortage on the European market and pushing up prices. It’s not that Europe will freeze without the Ukrainian pipe, but this will be a factor in rising prices,” he said.
Yushkov recalled that the contract is valid until December 31, 2024. At the same time, the expert suggested that transit would be stopped in the spring of 2024.
He noted that the United States will play a significant role in this process — by pushing Ukraine to such a step, they want to completely oust Russia from gas market in Europe.
Earlier, the head of Naftogaz, Alexey Chernyshev, said that Ukraine is not going to extend the agreement on the transit of Russian gas to Europe, which expires at the end of next year.
At the end of 2019 Russia and Ukraine signed a gas transit contract for a period of five years. According to it, Gazprom guaranteed pumping 65 billion cubic meters in the first year and 40 billion in the next four.