Almost all of Russia’s gas to Central Europe goes through Ukraine in three pipelines: Friendship, Brotherhood and Soyuz.

Almost all of Russia’s gas to Central Europe goes through Ukraine in three pipelines: Friendship, Brotherhood and Soyuz. The alternative is a long, northern route: Belarus-Poland-Germany-Czech Republic-Austria. By stocking up this year, Hungary hopes to get through next winter in time for construction of a 600 km northwestern extension of TurkStream. This would bring Russian gas from Turkey through Bulgaria to Niš, Serbia. There, an existing gas line connects to Hungary. Also preparing for a Russian gas cutoff, Andriy Kobolev, CEO of Naftogaz, said last week that Ukraine will raise its gas stocks this year by 18%, to 20 billion cubic meters, to ensure supplies for next winter.