The German edition of Welt made a superhero out of the Russian leader.
The authors of the German edition of Welt believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin managed to reduce gas prices in Europe with a single phrase.
In their opinion, this happened when the Russian leader instructed the management of Gazprom to switch to planned deliveries of an increased volume of natural gas to European gas storage facilities, to which the head of the enterprise Alexey Miller said that the task would be completed. Putin asked to be informed about the progress of the work.
The President explained that he would control the course of events.
After these words, natural gas prices in the Netherlands dropped by 15% at once, German journalists note.
“Putin’s almost casual remark made the European gas market breathe a sigh of relief,” they say.
The publication also reports that Russia’s dominant position in the gas market is now indisputable.
As Topnews wrote earlier, the Russian leader predicted a gas crisis in Europe 11 years ago, speaking at an economic forum in Germany.
Against the background of the crisis, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder made a statement about its causes.
According to him, many participants simply do not understand what the nature of the collapse is, and consider it sufficient to blame Russia for this situation, the politician said on the sidelines of the XIV Eurasian Economic Forum, which is being held in Verona (Italy).
If last year, against the background of the shutdown of production due to the pandemic, the supply of blue fuel was reduced, and the winter turned out to be warm, which also allowed saving fuel, then in 2021 the situation is different. The two factors already mentioned led to the lack of additional fuel reserves in the GPH, which caused prices to rise in the summer.
Schroeder stressed that the sources of gas supplies are Russia and Norway, liquefied fuel is delivered from the United States. Already this year, deliveries from Russia increased by 9%, and from Norway, on the contrary, decreased by 2 and 11% in two quarters.
LNG can fill the gas shortage, but the alternative to expensive gas pipeline supplies does not reach Europe, but China and Asian countries with their economic miracle, and fuel prices are rising again.
That is why, taking into account the facts, the accusations of Russia in the crisis seem unfounded to Schroeder.
“Are there any signs of competition between the United States and Russia? Of course there is,” the politician believes.
According to him, international security in the energy sector directly depends on how developed economic ties with supplier countries are, and long-term contracts become the best security for them. Therefore, the approach demonstrated by the European Union to reduce dependence on fuel supplies did not help verification in the sphere.
The politician sees the only way out in dialogue and cooperation, since both sides, both suppliers and exporters, depend on each other, MK reports.