Ukraine just stopped Russian gas flows to Europe. Here’s who’s most at risk
The Mitte Combined Heat and Power (CHP) natural gas power plant, operated by Vattenfall AB, in Berlin, Germany, on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Ukraine halted the flow of Russian gas to several European countries on New Year’s Day, bringing an end to Moscow’s decades-long dominance over Europe’s energy markets.
Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom confirmed gas exports to Europe via Ukraine stopped at around 8 a.m. local time (5 a.m. London time) on Wednesday.
The widely expected move marks the end of a five-year transit agreement between Russia and Ukraine, with neither side willing to strike a new deal amid the ongoing war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last month that Kyiv was not prepared to prolong the transit of Russian gas, adding: “We will not give the possibility of additional billions to be earned on our blood.”
Russia, which has transported gas to Europe via Ukrainian pipelines since 1991, says European Union countries will suffer the most from the supply shift. Moscow can still send gas via the TurkStream pipeline, which links Russia with Hungary, Serbia and Turkey.
Ukraine will lose up to $1 billion a year in transit fees from Russia due to the stoppage, according to Reuters, while Gazprom is poised to lose close to $5 billion in gas sales.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said it had been working with EU member states most impacted by the end of the gas transit agreement to ensure the entire 27-nation bloc was prepared for such a scenario.
Slovakia, Austria and Moldova are among the countries most at risk from the stoppage. They were the European countries most dependent on transit volumes of Russian gas in 2023, according to Rystad Energy, with Slovakia importing roughly 3.2 billion cubic meters that year, Austria receiving 5.7 billion cubic meters and Moldova getting 2 billion cubic meters.
In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico (L) prior to their talks in Moscow on December 22, 2024.
Gavriil Grigorov | Afp | Getty Images
Austria has insisted it is well prepared for the stoppage, but others were much more concerned.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico warned that Ukraine’s termination of the gas transit agreement would have a “drastic” impact on the EU, without harming Russia. Fico also threatened to cut electricity supplies to neighboring Ukraine.
The prime minister, a vocal critic of the EU’s support for Ukraine in the ongoing war, made a surprise visit to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly before Christmas.
Moldova, which is not a member of the EU, declared a 60-day state of emergency last month over energy security fears.
A total of 56 lawmakers of Moldova’s 101-seat parliament voted in favor of a nationwide state of emergency, which the government said at the time would allow the country to apply a series of measures to prevent and mitigate the threat of insufficient energy resources.
‘A historic event’
Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko described the cessation of Russian gas flows via Ukraine as a “historic event.”
“Russia is losing markets, it will suffer financial losses,” Galushchenko said via Telegram on Jan. 1, according to a Google translation.
“Europe has already decided to abandon Russian gas. And the European initiative Repower EU provides for exactly what Ukraine has done today,” he added.
Separately, Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski hailed the development as a political victory, accusing Russia’s Putin of having tried to “blackmail Eastern Europe with the threat of cutting off gas supplies.”
Steam clouds from the OMV refinery plant rise into the morning sky in Vienna’s suburban town of Schwechat, Austria on November 18, 2024.
Joe Klamar | Afp | Getty Images
The latest data compiled by industry group Gas Infrastructure Europe shows the EU’s gas storage facilities are around 73% full. In Germany, Europe’s biggest economy and largest gas consumer, inventories are currently at nearly 80%.
“Without Azerbaijan or another third party transiting the gas following a swap deal with Russia, the EU will require about 7.2 [billion cubic meters] of gas to be sourced from the LNG market,” Christoph Halser, gas and LNG analyst at Rystad Energy, said in a research note.
“Terminals in Poland, Germany, Lithuania and Italy could forward these volumes to the most affected counties, such as Slovakia and Austria.”
Europe’s energy security
Henning Gloystein, practice head of energy, climate and resources team at Eurasia Group, said Ukraine’s decision to halt the flow of Russian gas to the EU is no surprise given that both Kyiv and Moscow have long said they would not be willing to renew a deal under current war conditions.
In a research note, Gloystein said the expiry of the deal does not threaten EU winter energy security, citing steps taken by EU importers to prepare for the cut in supply and the mild winter weather seen across most of Europe.
Eurasia Group’s Gloystein said gas price moves over the coming months would likely hinge on political developments in the Russia-Ukraine war and remaining winter weather conditions.
“On the political front, there are ongoing talks between some EU members (e.g. Slovakia, where many of Ukraine’s pipelines enter the EU), Russia, and Ukraine to find a compromise that may allow for some resumption of supplies. However, there has been no progress during negotiations around the turn of the year,” Gloystein said.
“On the weather front, expectations are currently for above average temperatures for the remainder of Europe’s winter, which implies the impact of the cuts will be limited,” he added.
The front-month gas price at the Dutch TTF hub, a European benchmark for natural gas trading, was last seen up 1.2% at 49.49 euros ($51.1) per megawatt-hour on Thursday, according to New York’s Intercontinental Exchange.
A Tesla Model S has caught fire while charging at a Supercharger station in France. Tesla is investigating the issue, and the station is temporarily closed.
Sunday night, a fire was reported at the Tesla Supercharger station in Pontarlier, a small community in France near the border with Switzerland.
The firefighters were called, and they were able to extinguish the fire, which appeared to have originated from a Model S that was plugged into the Supercharger.
The car was supervised until this morning to ensure it didn’t reignite.
The local newspaper L’Est Republicain shared a picture of the aftermath, which shows the Tesla Model S is a total loss:
According to the local paper, Tesla sent a technician from Lyon to investigate the issue (translated from French):
A Tesla technician came from Lyon during the night to investigate the causes of the fire. The investigation is still ongoing.
Electric vehicle batteries can sometimes catch on fire, but statistically, they don’t catch on fire at a higher rate than fossil fuel-powered vehicles.
Like with fossil fuel-powered vehicle fires, most EV fires occur after a significant crash. However, it can happen that a vehicle catches on fire by itself. In those cases, it’s important to investigate and make sure to track down the cause of the fire in order to make EVs safer.
For example, this is what happened with the Chevy Bolt EV battery recall.
Last week, we also reported on a Cybertruck that caught fire while parked at a Tesla lot in Atlanta.
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![Ferrari's first EV spotted out in the wild teasing a bold new design [Video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/01/Ferraris-first-EV.jpeg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
The first all-electric Ferrari is expected to make its first official appearance later this year. Ahead of its debut, Ferrari’s first EV was spotted testing with an updated design. Take a look at it below.
Ferrari’s first EV caught testing ahead of its official debut
Despite an expected debut later this year, Ferrari has been, for the most part, tight-lipped about its first electric car.
CEO Benedetto Vigna promises it will be “a lot of fun” to drive, as expected from a Ferrari.” Vigna explained, “People buy a Ferrari because when they buy a Ferrari, they have a lot of fun.” The first fully electric model will be no different.
Although it has taken longer than many wanted, Ferrari’s CEO promises its first EV will be built “the right way.” It will still include all the Ferrari-like sound and signature design elements but in an all-electric form.
We caught a glimpse of the upcoming EV a few times already last year as it hit the road for testing. However, the most recent sighting, courtesy of Varryx, gives us an even closer look. The new video reveals an updated prototype and new design features you can expect to see.
Despite still being covered in camouflage, you can see the prototype is wearing new headlights and body panels. It also has several wires and brackets exposed up front.
Like previous sightings, Ferrari’s first EV prototype still has fake tailpipes. As the car passes, you can hear an exhaust-like sound, hinting that a fake one like Dodge’s electric charger could be in the works.
Last summer, Ferrari opened its new e-building, where the first electric car will be built. The facility will also build e-motors, batteries, and inverters. As you can see, the first electric Ferrari will be a crossover SUV similar to the Purosangue.
The electric crossover SUV is expected to make its first official appearance later this year as a 2026 model. By 2026, Ferrari aims for EVs and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) to account for 60% of sales.
What do you think of Ferrari’s electric crossover? Let us know in the comments. Check back soon for more leading up to its debut later this year.
Source: Varryx
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The White House announced today that President Joe Biden is banning new offshore oil and gas drilling along 625 million acres of US coastline, taking the total area of ocean he’s protected to 670 million acres.
Biden, who wraps up his term in just two weeks, has used his authority under Section 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which allows him to withdraw any unleased areas of the Outer Continental Shelf from future offshore drilling. Biden is protecting stretches of the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and parts of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea.
“In balancing the many uses and benefits of America’s ocean, it is clear to me that the relatively minimal fossil fuel potential in the areas I am withdrawing do not justify the environmental, public health, and economic risks that would come from new leasing and drilling,” Biden said in a statement on Monday.
Biden continued, “The Deepwater Horizon oil spill [pictured above], a man-made catastrophe that took the lives of 11 people and spilled millions of barrels of oil into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, is a solemn reminder of the costs and risks of offshore drilling to the health and resilience of our coasts and fisheries and underscores the importance of the legal protections I am putting in place today.”
Previous presidents from both parties have used this authority to withdraw large areas from oil and gas leasing. In 2020, the Trump administration protected North Carolina through Florida for 10 years in response to wide opposition to drilling from Republicans and voters, but the protections were set to expire in 2032. Biden’s announcement now permanently protects these areas. Trump, however, says he wants to overturn Biden’s oil drilling ban “on day one.”
Joseph Gordon, campaign director for the ocean conservation group Oceana, said in a statement, “President Biden’s new protections add to this bipartisan history, including President Trump’s previous withdrawals in the southeastern United States in 2020. Our treasured coastal communities are now safeguarded for future generations.”
The oil industry currently holds more than 2,000 leases, according to a 2023 Oceana report, with 75% of that ocean acreage currently unused.
Read more: Renewables powered 24% of US electricity in first 3 quarters of 2024
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