Ukraine resumes gas imports via the Trans-Balkan corridor after a two-month break

Three companies have booked capacities to import natural gas to Ukraine via the joint Route 1 Trans-Balkan route for November. The total volume of booked capacities is 0.6 million cubic meters per day, , according to industry publication ExPro.

Capacities for importing gas from Greece to Ukraine have been booked by the Greek DEPA Commercial, D.Trading (a subsidiary of the largest Ukrainian gas producer DTEK Group ) and the Swiss Axpo Trading.

In total, the GTS operators of Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece offered to book almost 1.9 million cubic meters per day for November.

In September and October, companies did not book capacity on this route, which resulted in no gas imports, the publication notes. The route actually operated for two months (July-August), and supplies stopped in September 2025 due to high tariffs and the lack of long-term guaranteed conditions for access to capacity.

In total, according to ExPro estimates, 18 million cubic meters of natural gas had been delivered to Ukraine before the transportation was stopped.

The booking of capacity for November is primarily due to tariff cuts by Moldovan and Romanian GTS operators. At the end of last week, they approved a 50% discount on the gas transit tariff via Route 1 for six months – until the end of April 2026.

Another reason for the greater interest in this route is Ukraine's need to increase natural gas imports ahead of the heating season after a significant collapse in domestic production as a result of Russian attacks.

• Due to massive Russian attacks since the beginning of October, Ukraine has temporarily lost its own gas production .
• On October 23, the Cabinet of Ministers allocated 8,4 billion UAH for the purchase of gas ($200 million in equivalent).
• According to the Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine needs about 2 billion euros to purchase gas for the winter .