Friday December 24th 2021
Moscow urges commissioning
Putin: Nord Stream 2 would lower gas prices
High gas prices are ringing the alarm bells in Europe. But the Russian President Putin has a simple recipe for reducing costs: With a permit for Nord Stream 2. The Kremlin chief names changing culprits for the current capers on the market.
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, putting the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline into operation would be an effective means of countering the rise in gas prices. “The additional gas deliveries to the European gas market would certainly lower the price on the exchange, on the spot market,” Putin told the Ria news agency. In addition, Poland is jointly responsible for rising gas prices because the country has ousted Russia from the operation of the Polish section of the Yamal pipeline, Putin told the Interfax news agency.
Gas prices are rising to ever new heights on the markets. The relevant European gas price had reached a record high on Tuesday and was thus 800 percent above the price at the beginning of the year. Approval for the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 pipeline by Germany and the EU is still pending. The Federal Network Agency had announced that there would be no decision in the first half of 2022. The USA, Poland and Ukraine do not want the line that connects Russia directly with Germany through the Baltic Sea to go into operation. A possible dependence of Germany and Europe on Russian gas is criticized, also against the background of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Delivery delays for political reasons
Politicians from several countries accuse Russia of delaying gas supplies to Europe because of the political conflicts. Russia and the state gas supplier Gazprom reject this. Like Putin, the Russian Vice Prime Minister Alexander Nowak also urged the rapid commissioning of Nord Stream 2. “In my opinion, European customers are very interested in the project going into operation,” Nowak told the television broadcaster Rossija-24. The operating companies could deliver additional gas through this pipeline under long-term contracts.
On Thursday, Putin identified Germany as causing rising gas prices in Europe and defended Gazprom. Gazprom is currently not delivering through the Yamal pipeline because German and French companies have not placed any orders, Putin said at his annual press conference. Germany used the lower prices from long-term supply contracts to sell the gas at a profit to neighboring countries.