On the morning of January 1, the transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian territory to Europe was completely halted due to Kyiv's refusal to renew the contract. As a result, the EU may lose approximately 30% of its pipeline gas imports from Russia.

Axar.az reports that this statement was made by Alexey Bobrovsky, director of the Institute for the Study of World Markets.

"Without the Ukrainian route, the transit of Russian gas to the EU could decrease by up to 39 billion cubic meters per year. As a result, Europe will face a further reduction in gas consumption and will have to shift to other energy sources, including coal," he said.

It should be noted that Ukraine stopped the transit of Russian gas to Europe the previous day.