“They came up with the problem themselves”: how Europe continues to declare a decrease in “dependence” on Russian gas

Europe has reduced its dependence on gas supplies from the Russian Federation from 40% at the beginning of 2022 to 8%.

This was stated by the press secretary of the French Foreign Ministry Anne-Clair Legendre in an interview with RTVI.

“Today we depend on Russian gas by only 8%, while at the beginning of last year this dependence was more than 40%.

This is an irreversible process as it is a profound strategic change in the structuring of the European energy mix and it is a change for the future,” she said.

Legendre added that "the same thing was done in connection with the oil embargo."

"There's still a long way to go"

Recall that after the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine in 2022, the EU countries imposed broad sectoral economic sanctions against Moscow, and also announced their intention to refuse the supply of energy resources from the Russian Federation.

The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said in January that by the end of 2023, the union would finally abandon Russian energy carriers.

“By the end of the year, all countries will completely get rid of Russia's energy resources.

Perhaps Hungary will be an exception for political reasons,” he said.

• Fertilizer manufacturer Borealis

• AFP

• © LOU BENOIST

The head of EU diplomacy also expressed confidence that due to the sanctions imposed by the European Union, the Russian economy will "pay a high price" for the conflict in Ukraine.

At the same time, the politically motivated decision of European countries to refuse the supply of Russian energy carriers led to a rapid increase in prices for electricity, fuel and utilities in the EU countries in 2022.

In addition, due to the sharp increase in the cost of electricity, many European enterprises were forced to close or start moving their production to other countries, including the United States.

Brussels recognizes that the rejection of cheap energy from Russia has a negative impact primarily on the economies of the eurozone member countries.

In the same France, the average bill for heating in a house of 100 square meters.

m this year will increase by €259, according to the news portal Connexion.

The reason for this was the decision of Paris to raise the so-called "price shield" (ceiling for tariffs) for electricity from 4% to 15%.

While gas prices are down from their 2022 record highs due to full storage and a milder winter, they are still three times higher than in 2020.

In addition, as noted in the analysis of the state of the EU energy market by Reuters agency, sharp fluctuations in European gas price forecasts lead to the fact that governments and companies cannot plan their further actions and are in a state of uncertainty.

“This adds to the pressure to permanently close part of the capacity,” says Axel Eggert, CEO of the European Steel Association Eurofer.

According to the agency, gas quotes for the TTF index (Europe's largest hub located in the Netherlands. -

) in January 2023 ranged from €64 to €125 per megawatt-hour.

In February, the price range is predicted from €60 to €95 per MWh.

The head of the Norwegian chemical company Yara, Svein Thure Holseter, said that such volatility in gas and electricity prices does not allow for adequate forecasting of the future.

“We make such calculations almost every day ... There is a danger that we will resume production, and then the cost of gas will jump,” he explained.

In turn, the head of the energy department of the German Institute for Economic Research, Claudia Kemfert, believes that Europe has not yet passed the crisis period.

“If the temperature drops and demand rises significantly, the price could also rise again.

Now we are experiencing a serious energy crisis, and we are still far from getting out of it, ”she stated.

"Companies will go bankrupt"

It is worth noting that Moscow has repeatedly spoken about the possible negative effect of Brussels' political decision to stop importing available gas.

So, earlier the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov noted that in the EU the consequences of this step would be felt for decades.

“The Europeans kept repeating, like a mantra, that it was necessary to get rid of dependence on Russia for energy resources, oil and gas,” Peskov recalled in the Moscow.

Kremlin.

Putin" on TV channel "Russia-1".

• Plant in Europe

• AP

• © Jean-Francois Badias

He pointed out that in European countries today "production is being curtailed, de-industrialization is on the way."

“All this, and, probably, in the next 10-20 years, at least, will have very, very deplorable consequences for the European continent,” he added.

Meanwhile, as analysts note, the problem of Europe's "dependence" on energy resources at competitive prices is absolutely far-fetched. 

“They themselves came up with the problem and now they are fighting it, creating huge troubles for their own economy, citizens and budgets.

The export of Russian gas to Europe was a long-term win-win deal.

It provided new opportunities for the development of both the Russian and European economies, industry and various industries.

It was a reliable, predictable and fairly cheap source of energy, ”said Alexei Grivach, deputy director general of the National Energy Security Fund, in an interview with RT.

At the same time, according to him, the Europeans decided to fight Russian gas with rather “clumsy methods”.

“In doing so, they have led themselves to hyperinflation and the collapse of many industries, the recovery of which is in great doubt.

Moreover, all this also happened under the guise of various administrative acts, up to interference in market pricing.

The establishment of so-called ceilings in the domestic market has brought companies to the point where they need to reduce in order to survive, not to mention some bonuses from this situation, ”Grivach emphasized.

From his point of view, all this has already had a negative impact on the standard of living of Europeans.

Director General of the Center for Political Information Alexei Mukhin, for his part, draws attention to the fact that the EU actually continues to buy Russian gas from third countries. 

“Europe buys Russian energy resources on the free market.

They buy from China and India the same gas from the Russian Federation, only under a different name.

Roughly speaking, they re-glued the brand and declare that they have freed themselves from “addiction”, therefore, such statements cause nothing but a smile, ”the political scientist explained.

He added that electricity and heating prices are rising in Europe as gas is now bought at a premium.

“This is the payment of European politicians for the indiscretion and erroneous claims that they have been “freed” from Russian gas.

This is self-deception and nothing more.

The average price tag will grow, companies will go bankrupt.

The business will either close or change location.

The standard of living of the average European will fall,” Grivach concluded.