Intense fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces near a pipeline Russia uses to supply European countries with gas has not disrupted supplies, network operators and gas companies said on Tuesday.
The European Union drastically reduced its reliance on Russian gas after the Ukraine war began in 2022, leaving Austriathe EU country most reliant on Russian supplies.
“We are not aware of any pressure fluctuations, all nominations are going according to plan and there are no indications of any irregularities,” Gas Connect Austria spokesperson Armin Teichert said.
Russia’s Gazprom also said on Tuesday it was still pumping gas to Ukraine through Sudzha, just over the border from Ukraine.
It was unclear which side was in control of the Russian town of Sudzha, through which Russia pumps gas from Western Siberia through Ukraine and on to Slovakia and other European Union countries.
In a statement on Aug. 3, the Austrian energy regulator E-Control said that even if Russian gas supplies were halted, the country has enough gas in store for the peak demand European winter.
Austrian energy group OMV OMVV.VI said it could fulfil its natural gas supply obligations in any supply scenario.
Most recipients of gas via Ukraine have said they have been preparing for the stoppage of flows at the end of this year anyway when a transit deal between Ukraine and Russia expires as Ukraine has said it does not want to renew it.
Eight entry points connect Ukraine with Slovakia, Poland, Romania and Hungary, through which Russian flows can reach the EU. Currently, two are used – at Polish and Slovakian interconnection points – and then the volumes can be transmitted to other countries in central and eastern Europe, according to Kpler Insight analysts.
They estimate that Slovakia’s implied use of Ukrainian flows were nearly 80% in 2023.
“This dependency could increase if inflows from Hungary decrease and a cold winter occurs as no Russian gas would be available for refilling storage levels,” they said.
Slovak gas company SPP said it has been preparing for the risk of a halt in Russian gas supply for several years and has commercial contracts in place with non-Russian suppliers.
Hungary gets around 1 billion cubic metres of Russia gas a year via a pipeline from Austria and a spokesperson at the Hungarian pipeline operator said gas was still flowing.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich, Jan Lopatka and Anita Komuves; writing by Nina Chestney, Editing by Madeline Chambers, Barbara Lewis and David Evans)