Gazprom supplies even more gas to Europe than is prescribed in the contracts, but many accusations are being made against it, which sound strange against the backdrop of the European and German side delaying the certification of Nord Stream 2. On January 15, German publicist Christopher Herstl told Izvestia about this, commenting on the words of the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, who accused Gazprom of reducing spot sales to Europe and creating tension in the European energy market.
“I understand that there are many accusations against Gazprom, and not only against it, but also against Russia, and against [президента РФ Владимира] Putin, who is generally blamed whenever something goes wrong in Europe. And I don’t understand why this crisis is still going on, despite the fact that Gazprom and Nord Stream 2 are ready to provide gas in full through two lines at once and do not do this only because of the problems caused by the European and the German side,” he said.
The publicist noted that Gazprom is fully fulfilling its obligations to supply gas to Europe.
“When I see a situation that Russia, in the person of Gazprom in particular, is one hundred percent complying with its agreements and even more, yes, it provides Germany with more gas than it is written in the contract, and they still blame it, I wonder if they understand are these people anything in business?” Hurstle was surprised.
“Business is when you have a contract, and you get what you wanted, what you paid for and what is written in the contract. This is what contracts are for. If you need more, look at the market and do not blame Gazprom for not selling you new gas at the price specified in the contract,” he said.
According to the publicist, behind the accusations against Gazprom “there is a political task.”
“I remembered the situation shortly before the onset of the forties, when Hitler decided to attack Russian soldiers, the USSR provided a huge amount of all kinds of good, a whole train, as, one might say, a gesture of goodwill. The Russian partners knew that Hitler would attack them, but they provided him with this train. This is the policy of Russia, I see it all the time, in any era, ”Herstl said.
He also said that he had no doubts about the existence of an energy crisis in Europe.
“Prices have risen very sharply, rapidly, in the spot market they are now very high. This means that those who have long-term contracts with suppliers are in a fantastic position,” summed up the German publicist.
Earlier that day, Vladislav Belov, deputy director of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Izvestia that Gazprom was fulfilling all obligations to supply Europe with gas and even supplied additional volumes there. According to him, the reduction in spot sales was not due to the fact that the Russian company did not supply energy, but because no one wanted to buy them at high spot prices.
At the same time, an expert from the Financial University under the Government of Russia, Stanislav Mitrakhovich, in a comment to Izvestia, noted that Gazprom was not obliged to supply additional volumes of gas through the spot mechanism and was not interested in this. He called the accusations against Russia “shifting from a sick head to a healthy one.”
Prior to this, on January 12, the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, said that Gazprom could increase supplies to Europe by at least a third, but did not. In his opinion, this creates tension in the European energy market.
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.
