“Withdrawals from winter stocks have started.” Russia is reducing gas supplies to Europe

Russia is reducing the supply of natural gas it pumps to its major customers in Europe, increasing pressure on European countries that are increasingly concerned about fuel shortages, at a time when the European Commission accused the Russian government of blackmailing the use of gas supplies.

And the Bloomberg news agency reported on Friday that natural gas prices in Europe rose sharply this week, while some countries were forced to withdraw from the stocks they held for the winter season, which witnesses the peak of energy consumption in Europe.

Bloomberg added that the Russian natural gas giant "Gazprom" has reduced the quantities of gas it pumps to Germany, France and Italy, the countries whose leaders visited Ukraine yesterday, while the European Commission recommended granting Ukraine the status of a candidate to join the European Union.

The German energy company Uniper said that the amount of gas it obtained from Russia is 60% less than what it requested, after Moscow reduced the quantities it pumps through Nord Stream, the largest Russian natural gas pipeline to Europe.

Uniper depends on Russia for more than half of its natural gas needs through long-term contracts, with some extending into the next decade.

Russia stopped pumping gas to Bulgaria, Poland, Denmark and the Netherlands, and Russia, which was promoting itself as a reliable partner for Europe even during the Cold War, began reducing gas supplies even to countries that responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin's request to pay for gas in Russian rubles.

Russia also reduced the quantities of gas to Germany, France, Austria and Italy, which led to a rise in the price of natural gas in European transactions by nearly 63% during the current week.

The company supervising the French gas transmission network, GRT Gas, said it had not received any quantities of Russian gas through pipelines since June 15, with "the physical flow between France and Germany being interrupted."

Gazprom said that it will pump 50 percent of the gas quantities requested by Italy today, which may prompt Italy to use natural gas reserves to meet the needs.



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