Russia on the gas putineggia with the EU
Russia signs a gas supply agreement with Belarus and criticizes the European approach. Meanwhile, Gazprom announces the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline with Germany
Russia and Belarus yesterday reached an agreement for the integration of their respective markets for oil and natural gas. Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that the two countries will sign, before December 2023, a document for the creation of a unified gas market; similar agreements on oil and electricity will follow.
FIXED PRICES FOR 2022
During the press conference with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Putin said that the volumes of Russian gas sent to Belarus in 2022 will have the same prices as in 2021. As S&P Global Platts explains, Minsk has secured a stable value for the gas in a moment of rise in European prices : the low levels of storage in anticipation of winter and the competition with Asia for supplies of LNG have to do with it.
COMPARISON WITH EUROPE
"We will leave the price for Belarus unchanged for next year, 2022," Putin said, according to the transcript reported on the Kremlin website. “The price for Belarus is $ 128.5 per thousand cubic meters. In case you don't know, I would like to inform you that the price on the European market is $ 650 per thousand cubic meters ”.
THE ATTACK OF PUTIN
As reported by the Russian news agency TASS , Putin also stated that countries that have signed long-term Russian gas supply contracts can "rub their hands" because they will buy cheaper fuel when international energy prices rise.
After that, the Russian president criticized the European approach. “On the free market in Europe the price is 650 dollars per thousand cubic meters. The smart guys in the previous formation of the European Commission invented the market price for gas. And so, here is the result ”.
"But our approach is different," Putin said. “We also have the market price [of gas, ed ], but this price is linked to the price of oil. Nobody regulates it, the market regulates it, but the fluctuations are much softer ”.
WHAT GAZPROM DOES
"In long-term contracts and in compliance with our pricing principles, Gazprom ", the main Russian gas company, "does not sell gas at a similar price [or $ 650 per thousand cubic meters, ed ], and those who agree to to sign long-term contracts with us in Europe now they just have to rub their hands and rejoice, ”Putin said.
He then added that “in Germany Gazprom sells gas at 220 dollars per thousand cubic meters; or so it has been recently. This price will go up, but it will be a slight climb ”.
THE NORD STREAM 2 IS COMPLETE
Meanwhile, Gazprom this morning announced the completion of construction work on Nord Stream 2, the controversial gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea that directly connects Russia and Germany: Moscow is thus strengthening its export capacity to Europe, avoiding transit through the Baltic Sea. Ukraine.
The project, worth 11 billion dollars, began five years ago but was blocked at the end of 2019 following US sanctions: America considers conduct a geopolitical weapon that will increase Russian influence on Europe and it will allow Moscow to damage and marginalize Ukraine. Activities resumed when Russia sent its boats to take care of the works.
Gas flows from Russia to Germany will begin as soon as the German regulatory authority gives its approval, Gazprom recalled.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/russia-gas-accordo-bielorussia-prezzi-europa/ on Fri, 10 Sep 2021 11:40:38 +0000.