ATHENS, August 13. /TASS/. The Vertical Corridor for natural gas supplies from Greece to Moldova and Ukraine remains largely on paper, Panagiotis Lafazanis, a Greek politician, former Energy Minister, and leader of the Democratic Movement for National Liberation (DIKEA) party, told TASS.

He noted that, in reality, "the agreement between Greece and the US, which was updated with the participation of other European countries to create a Vertical Corridor consisting of a network of strategic pipelines to deliver American LNG from Revithoussa to Alexandroupolis for regasification, and then to Ukraine via Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Moldova, is not working."

"Of course, all of this is still mostly on paper, while major difficulties arise with its practical implementation. These are primarily related to the political and economic pushback from an increasing number of countries, parties, and popular associations dissatisfied with decisions that prolong and exacerbate the war [in Ukraine], are directed against Russia, deepen economic and social problems, and, primarily through expensive LNG, drive prices and the cost of living to even greater heights, further impoverishing society," Lafazanis said.

According to Lafazanis, "starting in early September, the DIKEA party will launch a large-scale initiative aimed at lifting the ban on Russian gas imports to Greece and Europe, fostering major public movements in this direction, and restoring relations of friendship and cooperation between Greece and Russia, as well as between European countries and Russia as a whole."

On January 26, the EU Council finalized a complete ban on Russian LNG supplies to the EU starting January 1, 2027, and on pipeline gas starting September 30, 2027. Meanwhile, the ban on LNG imports under short-term contracts took effect on April 25, 2026, and short-term pipeline gas supply contracts were set to expire by June 17, 2026.

The Vertical Gas Corridor is a project aimed at creating a route for liquefied natural gas supplies from Greece to Central and Eastern European countries, including Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia, and other countries.