By Susanna Twidale

LONDON (Reuters) -Ukraine’s gas system operator GTSOU said on Tuesday it would declare force majeure on the transportation of Russian gas through the Sokhranivka entry point, with flows stopping on May 11.

Even after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2017, Ukraine continues to be an important transit route for Russian natural gas to Europe.

GTSOU stated that it was unable to operate at Novopskov’s gas compressor station due to interference from the occupying forces.

Russian forces have occupied the Novopskov compressor plant in Luhansk, eastern Ukraine since shortly after the invasion.

It’s the first compressor of Ukraine’s transit system for gas in Luhansk, which is used to transport around 32.6 Million cubic meters of gas per day.

GTSOU released a statement saying that in order to fulfill the obligations of European partners regarding transit, and to comply with the agreement’s terms, it was possible to transfer temporarily ineligible capacity from the “Sokhranivka” physical interconnection point to a “Sudzha” physical interconnection spot located on the territory controlled Ukraine.