Russia’s Gazprom faces crisis as Ukrainian Forces take control of Sudzha gas metering station
The Russian gas conglomerate Gazprom is reportedly in a state of panic over the gas measuring station at Sudzha, now under the control of Ukrainian armed forces. The station, crucial for pumping gas to Europe, is barely functioning, with no personnel on site. Reports the Moscow Times. Currently, the normal operation of the Sudzha gas metering station is not possible. The delivery volumes of gas into Ukraine's transmission network bound for Western Europe are not being monitored. The station lacks both electricity and technical staff, making repairs and power restoration impossible at this juncture.
In a bid to resolve the crisis, Gazprom has proposed relocating the transit gas delivery point from Sudzha to the Dolgoe compressor station, which is situated approximately 300 kilometers from Ukraine near the border of the Kursk and Oryol regions. However, according to the same sources, Ukraine has not consented to this move. When Gazprom sources were asked what would happen should the Dolgoe station fall under Ukrainian control, the response was that they had chosen the location with a buffer in mind but did not discount the need to potentially relocate further into Russia, possibly even to Urengoy. While this response was seemingly in jest, journalists felt that real Ukrainian advance into Russia was not being ruled out by their sources.
If Gazprom's plans are to proceed, they will need to renegotiate contracts with European clients in Austria and Slovakia. The current discussions both in Moscow and Kyiv propose that starting from 2025, Ukraine's gas transmission system would transit gas owned by European buyers, collecting transit fees directly from Western companies rather than from Gazprom Export. Ukrainian authorities are steadfast in their refusal to sign a new transit agreement with Gazprom. Europeans, particularly Austrians and Slovaks, would need to amend their contracts to accept Russian gas not at their countries' Ukrainian borders, but at the Ukraine-Russia border, now a fluctuating front line in the Kursk region. Will they agree to the Dolgoe station or another point along the famed Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhgorod pipeline? The future of this pipeline is now being decided not by Russian politicians or Gazprom, but by Ukrainian forces.
Issues surrounding the Sudzha gas metering station could further justify a radical decision: the complete termination of gas transit through Ukraine. Satellite images from August reveal significant damage to the Sudzha station. One administrative building and a platform with measuring equipment have been nearly destroyed. This hampers Russia's ability to ascertain the volume of gas it supplies to European countries and, consequently, the payment owed for it.
The Sudzha station houses internationally recognized certified meters crucial for determining contract volumes for Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. Although gas continues to be pumped from compressor stations closer to Kursk, measuring these volumes is now impossible without operational control at Sudzha. The Ukrainian route through Sudzha remains one of only two channels for transporting Russian gas to Europe, the other being the TurkStream pipeline, likely to become the sole functioning route after the current Ukraine transit contract expires in late 2024.