Political scientist Alexander Rahr on Saturday, January 15, in an interview with Izvestia, commented on the statement of the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Fatih Birol about the fault of Gazprom in the energy crisis in Europe.
“Serious experts, of course, do not blame Russia for the energy crisis. The problem is multidimensional. The fact is that over the past months or even years, the European Commission and the main states of the West have been repeating in unison that it is necessary to abandon dirty technologies, dirty energy carriers, that gas is no longer needed in such volumes as it was before, that it is necessary to switch to renewable sources,” he said.
Now, in recent years, it turns out that these wind generators or solar panels do not work at such power as Western industrialists would like, the expert noted.
According to him, that is why the question arose of purchasing new volumes of gas. Rahr noted that gas is almost no longer used in Europe, so “we need to go to Norway, Russia, we need to buy liquefied gas.”
Rahr explained that Western governments have been saying that they are switching to renewable sources, and now they do not want to admit their mistake. So they need a switchman and an enemy to blame for the energy crisis, he added.
He recalled that Russia has been reliably supplying gas to the EU for decades, but it also bears great risks, because it must produce gas, invest in the development of gas fields and build infrastructure. Therefore, Russia offers to work under contracts. And the European Union, in turn, wants the gas to be located on the territory of Europe and for trading to take place on spot markets.
According to the political scientist, now there is a struggle for the future of the market structure.
Rahr noted that there is a lot of speculation in Europe by European gas traders. In addition, the political scientist called the problem far-fetched.
“Why then not open Nord Stream 2 (SP-2) so that Russia can pump large volumes of gas to Europe? Why not allow the full operation of Nord Stream 1 (SP-1). We need a serious discussion on this topic with people who make decisions, but here emotions take over, as gas prices in Europe are rising, the population is dissatisfied, and politicians do not want to admit their guilt, ”he said.
On January 12, Bloomberg reported that the head of the IEA, Fatih Birol, blamed Gazprom for the energy crisis in Europe. Birol said that Gazprom can increase supplies to Europe by at least a third, but does not do this, which creates tension in the European energy market.
On December 15, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said that all accusations against Russia and Gazprom that the country provides little gas to the European market are completely groundless, unacceptable, and untrue.
In addition, a representative of Gazprom said that the Russian company supplied Germany with 50.2 billion cubic meters in 2021. m, which is 5.3% more than last year.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
