Only 7% of the gas used by the EU comes from Russia

In Europe, spring will officially begin in three weeks - on March 21, the day of the vernal equinox. But it is already possible to summarize. According to experts, in the energy struggle with Russia this year, the European Union survived, despite the horror stories about a freezing Europe broadcast by Russian television, writes currenttime.tv.

Chairman of the board of Gazprom Alexey Miller

At the same time, Russia's oil and gas revenues fell by 40% in January compared to the pre-war period: this is according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). They believe that Western sanctions have reached their goal. The markets stabilized, and Russia's revenue from the sale of hydrocarbons fell.

Although after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian authorities tried to blackmail Europe into dependence on fuel, an hour later, the price of gas in Europe reached its lowest level in a year and a half: now it is lower than before the invasion of Ukraine. Now, after the winter heating season, the warehouses are 60% full. It seems that on Russian television they were in vain all winter that Europe was freezing. The RT channel, in particular, released an advertisement for the New Year in which Europeans have to eat a Christmas gift of a hamster after a couple of years. "Ordinary Europeans are suffering, electricity and gas bills have more than tripled in an hour. The population, as in the Middle Ages, began to stock up on firewood for the winter," Vladimir Putin said.

"Gazprom" limited the supply of gas to Europe under various pretexts. In response, Brussels called on citizens and companies to reduce electricity consumption. And they began to look for alternatives more actively. Including switching to liquefied gas. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told how they managed not to freeze: "The consequences of this war affected the whole world. We in Europe, in Germany, also feel this because of high energy prices, inflation, and of course, we must think about energy security. However, we very quickly decided that we must do everything possible to guarantee energy supplies to Germany regardless of gas supplies from Russia. That's why at the beginning of the year we decided to build terminals on the shore as quickly as possible."

Nastoyasche Vremena told about how the EU survived the winter without Russian gas Andrius Kubilius, twice the Prime Minister of Lithuania, and now a member of the European Parliament.

— According to the latest data, only 7% of the gas used by the European Union comes from Russia. The goal has been achieved. Yes, there were problems, prices were high for both gas and electricity. But all this passes. And it turns out that the European Union and countries such as Germany have managed to very effectively implement a number of projects that allow at least this winter to survive quite calmly.

— What are these projects? Why was it so easy to survive the winter?

— First, the European Union managed to secure a sufficient amount of gas in its storage facilities. Of course, the fact that the winter was not so harsh also helped. And that's why we were able to survive the whole winter without any big problems. Gas came from different countries, from different sources. Norway increased gas sales and production. Of course, the Germans built very quickly, and it surprises everyone how quickly they managed to build the first liquefied gas terminal. Liquefied gas now comes from all over the world. The European Union agreed with Azerbaijan on additional supplies. So everything is solved, everything is done. And the most important thing is that the European Union has proven that it can cope with such problems.

— But at the same time, there was some dissatisfaction with the rise in prices. Such a position also exists, there were rallies. The Kremlin apparently hopes that it is precisely this point of view among European residents that will win, that aid to Ukraine is not worth a comfortable, cheap life. How dangerous are these moods in Europe?

— In Europe, people can go out and express their dissatisfaction at a rally. Of course, at the first moment it seemed that prices were growing at such a crazy pace, and everyone was scared, both citizens and politicians. Therefore, dissatisfaction and uncertainty about the future were expressed at these meetings. But at the moment we see new ads: gas prices are decreasing, electricity prices too. And somehow I do not see any prospects for large protest movements.

On the contrary, as shown by a number of polls, support for Ukraine remains at a very high level. And even the fact that citizens support Ukraine so much, this is precisely what influences and pressures politicians, who also do not lag behind the desire of citizens to provide such support to Ukraine. So I don't see any big problems here yet.

— Andrews, but you yourself said that winter was not so cold in Europe. What if the next winter turns out to be more severe?

— The most important thing is how much gas will be in the storages, whether this gas will be delivered to the storages at a time when it is, let's say, cheaper. And this should be taken care of now. As far as I understand, this concern is manifested both at the level of the European Union and at the level of the member states. Germany plans to build several more liquefied gas terminals in the near future. And politicians have a very clear understanding that there are no opportunities to return to Russian gas.

It's a pity that such warnings were not heeded before the war, but it's good that now everyone understands it. And, on the other hand, this very situation pushes the European Union to move faster with the implementation of what is called the green deal. The European Union has said very clearly that in 10-12 years the consumption of gas and oil in the countries of the European Union will decrease several times and that indeed green energy will occupy the entire space in the energy industry. This means that for countries like Russia, for companies like Gazprom, it is time to rethink their entire economic strategy.

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