Gazprom head to Europe: ‘The goods are ours, the rule is ours’
Italian Environmental Transition Minister Roberto Singolani has said that Russia’s “political pressure or revenge motives” may be behind Russia’s cuts.
After Moscow cut gas supplies to Germany and Italy, Russian gas giant Gazprom said the company was “playing by its own rules.”
During a discussion at an international forum in St. Petersburg on June 16, Alexei Miller said:
“The goods are ours, the rules are ours. We don’t play by rules we didn’t create. “
The day before, Gazprom halved the volume of gas supplied to Germany.
According to Gazprom, the reason is that the German company Siemens has delayed the repair of the compressor in the North Stream 1 pipeline.
Berlin said the move was political and that Moscow’s goal was to raise prices by creating uncertainty.
Miller confirmed that Gazprom has reduced gas supplies to Europe.
The volume of gas supplied from Russia to Germany via the North Stream 1 pipeline was further reduced on June 16.
Thus, the volume of gas supplied fell by 40 percent.
Moscow’s revenge?
Italian energy giant Eni also said that Gazprom would supply it with only 65 percent of the gas ordered.
Minister of Environmental Transition of Italy Roberto Sinqolani He said Moscow’s “political pressure or revenge motives” could be behind Russia’s cuts.
Commentators point out that Gazprom’s cuts coincided with a June 16 visit to Kiev by the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Romania.
Leaders president Volodymyr Zelenski After the meeting, they said that they want Ukraine to be nominated for EU membership “immediately.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov He said that the reduction of gas volumes is due to current repair work.
Russia has cut off gas supplies to Poland, Bulgaria, Denmark and the Netherlands following its attack on Ukraine.
Moscow has lost several customers in Europe after it demanded payments in rubles for gas.
The European Union has reduced its purchases of gas from Russia, but several EU countries are unable to do so due to their extreme dependence on Russian gas.