The declared termination of the Russian gas transit will cause a series of problems to Ukraine — DPR deputy Marina Zheynova

The Ukrainian energy minister claims that the country is ready to terminate the transit of Russian gas starting January 1, 2020. DPR People’s Council deputy Marina Zheynova commented on this statement.

“Such statements from Ukrainian officials are PR stunt and lies to the ordinary citizens of the country, who will be the first to experience yet another “victory” of the newly elected power.

What Ukraine is going to lose on the transit, or rather on its absence, is no less than $3 billion a year given the budget deficit, a peak in payments on credit obligations to the IMF and other creditors, as well as against the background of the cuts and revision of social payments and subsidies, which is the most obvious fact.

The problem is that not only the quality of housing and utility services they provide for unthinkable money leaves much to be desired, but we also see entire villages and neighborhoods freezing in the middle of winter. In fact, now people will not be expecting the long-awaited heat at their homes at all. Nobody has ever been able to reverse the laws of physics, neither declarative statements from officials can change them.

Ukraine’s gas transportation system was built as far back as the Soviet Union era, and today there are no Ukrainian authorities that have enough money to be able to completely modernize and rebuild it. The termination of the transit will lead to a reduction of gas pressure in the system. The residents’ gas boilers, not to mention the centralized heating, are designed for a certain pressure, in the absence of which they will be constantly going off.

And when officials talk about a record gas reserve in the storage facilities, almost 22 billion cubic meters, they stretch the truth at least, since that includes buffer gas and gas from European companies. Except that they dare to steal a little bit once again, by habit. And this, probably, will also entail a gas shortage in the European territory.

And if there is no transit, it will be necessary not only to modernize, but also to partially preserve the system, revise the work plan, which will also require significant funding. And it turns out that an increase in tariffs for the population will be not far off again. Once again, the imaginary victory of the Ukrainian government will mean a defeat to the ordinary population,” the deputy emphasized.