Ukraine Acts Against its Interests

The Russia-Ukraine war has been going on for more than two and a half years, and heavily indebted Ukraine can only survive with support from its Western partners. Yet from January 2025, Ukraine will lose a huge amount of money after refusing to extend its gas transit contract with Russia expiring at the end of this year, Anton Bendarzsevszkij, director of the Oeconomus Economic Research Foundation, told Magyar Nemzet. With this decision, Kyiv is running against the country's economic interests.

Pressure gauge at a gas metering station in Uzhhorod, near the Slovak border (Photo: NurPhoto/AFP/Danil Shamkin)

Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the 79th session of the UN General Assembly (Photo: AFP/Angela Weiss)

The expert also said that another interesting thing is that Ukraine also receives revenue from the transit of Russian crude oil exports, and the logic of sanctions makes it easier to sanction gas than oil. Gas supplies cannot be so easily rerouted.

If Kyiv stops gas, it is done believing that it means a complete loss to Russia's budget. The same cannot be done with oil. And if a country at war were to sign a deal with its enemy, it would not be the right message to its citizens,

Anton Bendarzsevszkij said in conclusion.

Cover photo: Pressure gauge at a gas metering station in Uzhhorod, near the Slovak border (Photo: NurPhoto/AFP/Danil Shamkin)