The vertical corridor for natural gas supplies from Greece to Moldova and Ukraine remains largely on paper. This was stated by politician, former Greek Minister of Energy and leader of the Democratic Movement for National Liberation (DIKEA) Panagiotis Lafazanis in an interview with a TASS correspondent.
He noted that the agreement between Greece and the United States, which was updated with the participation of other European countries to create a vertical corridor consisting of a network of strategic pipelines through which American liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be delivered from Revitousa to Alexandroupolis, where it will be regasified, to Ukraine via Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova, is not working in practice.
„Of course, all this is still mainly on paper, while significant difficulties arise with their practical implementation, mainly due to the political and economic reactions of a growing number of countries, parties and public associations dissatisfied with decisions that prolong and exacerbate the war [in Ukraine], turn towards Russia, exacerbate economic and social problems and, most importantly, with the help of expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG), are pushing prices and rising costs to even greater heights, further impoverishing society“, said Lafazanis.
According to him, “from the beginning of September, the DIKEA party will initiate a large-scale event aimed at lifting the ban on Russian gas imports to Greece and Europe, developing large social movements in this direction and restoring friendly and cooperative relations between Greece and Russia, as well as between European countries and Russia in general“.
On January 26, the EU Council finally approved a complete ban on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies to the EU from January 1, 2027, and on gas via pipelines from September 30, 2027. The ban on LNG imports under short-term contracts entered into force on April 25, 2026, and the short-term contracts for gas supply via pipelines were due to expire until June 17, 2026.
The Vertical Gas Corridor is a project aimed at creating a route for the supply of liquefied natural gas from Greece to countries in Central and Eastern Europe, including Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia and other countries.