MOSCOW, October 3 – Novosti. European private households and small companies increased gas consumption in the fall despite government calls to cut demand, writes Bloomberg columnist Javier Blas.
“If Europe were a schoolboy, you can say that last week they had an energy saving exam. She failed it, the private sector increased demand by 14.5 percent compared to the five-year average. And this does not bode well , because much greater tests await us in January,” the author noted.
Klaus Müller, a German official quoted by the publication, called these figures sobering.
“Despite heavy LNG imports to replace Russian gas, additional supplies will not be enough. Savings are paramount. Europe desperately needs a warm winter, but it cannot expect a mild season like last year. The region may be lucky, but otherwise it will have serious problems,” he said.
The article notes that the European Commission has proposed to reduce the demand for gas by ten to fifteen percent. At this time, Germany , which is more dependent on Russian fuel than other countries, is forced to reduce consumption by as much as 20 percent.
After the start of the Russian special operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, the West stepped up sanctions pressure on Moscow: Russian assets worth hundreds of billions of dollars were frozen, the European Union has already adopted seven packages of restrictive measures, including an embargo on coal and oil. But all this turned into problems for the Western countries themselves, provoking a sharp increase in inflation and food and fuel prices.
As Vladimir Putin noted, the policy of containing and weakening Russia is a long-term strategy of the West, and its main goal is to worsen the lives of millions of people. At the same time, Moscow will solve all the problems that are created for it, and in the event of a restriction in energy prices, it will not supply anything abroad if this is contrary to its interests, the head of state said.
