Russia is gradually shutting down gas supplies to Europe

Power outages to Poland, Bulgaria and Finland, significant cuts to Germany, Austria, Italy and Slovakia, not a single cubic meter to France: Europeans denounce blackmail of Russian President Vladimir Putin at a time when the continent wants to take advantage of the summer period to increase its reserves.

During the fourth month of the war in Ukraine, Moscow hits where it hurts and exploits the energy vulnerability of Europeans, as 40% of the gas they use comes from Russia. This percentage is even higher in Eastern Europe: it ranges from 55% in Germany to 85% in Bulgaria.

Europeans are not short of gas at the moment, as they do not need to heat their homes during the summer. But the reductions in deliveries come at a time when countries want to boost their reserves, aiming to reach at least 80% by November.

Reducing deliveries also raises prices, which can be costly for industries, especially in Germany, some of whose plants are directly connected to pipelines and need huge amounts of gas.

“The Russians have been using gas as a weapon for a long time,” said Thierry Bros, a professor at the Sciences Po in Paris. to cause turmoil in the market of raw materials and to raise prices ”.

France announced today that it would not receive Russian gas through a pipeline from June 15 after “the cessation of natural flow between France and Germany”.

Russian energy giant Gazprom has significantly reduced its deliveries to European countries in recent days, mainly to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which may have caused France to cut off supplies.

France relies on Russia for about 17% of its natural gas, which reaches the country either by pipeline or in liquefied form. Most reach France via pipeline from Germany.

The flow had already dropped by 60% since the beginning of the year, according to the operator of the French gas transmission network GRTgaz. For the past two days, supplies through the pipeline have dropped to zero.

Purchase of liquefied natural gas

“We must not have illusions, we are in a power struggle with Putin,” German Economy Minister Robert Hubeck told state television on Thursday.

“It is a decision that is taken arbitrarily, this is how dictators and tyrants act,” he added.

The consequences are more serious for France’s neighbors and not just for Germany: Italy depends on 40% of the gas it consumes from Russia and from today will receive only half the amount requested by its national company Eni.

Accordingly, the Slovak company SPP was informed by Russia that gas supplies will be reduced by half from today. “Reducing deliveries in half does not affect us at the moment. We are working on the realistic risk that they will be shut down altogether,” said Richard Prokipkak, the company’s chief executive.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who visited Kyiv yesterday, denounced “the political exploitation of gas, as well as the political exploitation of grain.”

Gazprom officially attributes the reductions in deliveries to technical problems facing Nord Stream 1, but European officials do not believe it.

“Gazprom does not need an excuse, it is a political decision of the Kremlin. It interrupts in a different way (gas supply) to cause cracks in European unity,” said Bros.

And Europe, which is not talking about a possible embargo on Russian gas imports, is looking for other sources of gas, through pipelines but mainly liquefied.