EU talks about possibility of resuming Russian gas imports - Reuters
Leading European energy companies have begun to openly declare the possibility of resuming imports of some Russian gas, in particular from the state-owned giant Gazprom.
This is reported by Reuters, Censor.NET informs.
French energy giant Engie, through its executive vice president Didier Gollo, said that in the case of a "reasonable peace" in Ukraine, Europe could resume supplies of up to 60-70 billion cubic meters of gas per year, including LNG (liquefied natural gas) from Russia.
"Russia can provide about 20-25% of the EU's needs, while before the war this figure was 40%," said Gollo.
A similar position was expressed by Patrick Pouyanne, Chairman of TotalEnergies. According to him, a full return to the pre-war level (150 billion cubic meters) is unlikely, but 70 billion cubic meters is a realistic scenario.
The situation is complicated by the EU's growing dependence on the United States as the main supplier of LNG after Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. Concerns about this dependence have intensified since the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, as he sees energy as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations.
Negotiations with Qatar to increase supplies have also stalled, and the deployment of renewable energy sources in Europe is not moving fast enough to guarantee energy security.
The issue of Russian gas imports remains sensitive and politically divisive. In particular, in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the region where the Nord Stream pipeline comes ashore, a poll by the Forsa Institute showed that 49% of Germans want a return to Russian supplies.
"We need Russian gas, we need cheap energy - no matter where it comes from. We need Nord Stream 2," said Klaus Paur, director of Leuna-Harze, a medium-sized petrochemical company.
