Russia’s Gazprom Stemming Gas Supplies: EU
Brussels, Feb 19: President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen said Saturday that Russian gas giant Gazprom was consciously trying to deliver as little gas as possible.
“A strong EU can’t be so reliant on an energy supplier that threatens to start a war on our continent. Gazprom, a Russian state company, is deliberately trying to store and deliver as little as possible when prices and demand are skyrocketing. This is a very strange behavior for a company,” von der Leyen said at the Munich Security conference during the session titled “Hand in Hand: Transatlantic and European Security.”
Gazprom has repeatedly stated that the intentional EU policy of moving away from long-term contracts to spot ones has enabled higher prices and lower medium-term predictability. Russia says it stands ready to increase gas supplies to Europe, but Gazprom needs long-term contracts, as greater investments will be required.
