Russian authorities do not consider for themselves record gas prices in Europe, which fluctuate at the level of thousands of dollars per thousand cubic meters and higher, and would like to reduce them by 60-70 percent, up to 300-400 dollars. About this with reference to unnamed officials writes Bloomberg.
The interlocutors of the agency called the Kremlin a supporter of the fall in prices due to the desire to preserve its influence on the energy market of Europe in the foreseeable future. The high cost of fuel will end with the collapse of demand for it and faster transitions of the region for renewable energy sources, which will hit exporting revenues.
Last time until the current crisis, Gazprom sold Europe 400 per thousand cubic meters in 2013 and still considers such a level ideal, and below 200 dollars – undesirable. However, since then prices decreased, while against the background of restoring the global economy and global energy equipment, they did not grow several times.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting with members of the government acknowledged that the rise in gas prices can affect gas consumption in Europe, and therefore on Gazprom.
In turn, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak noted that the situation would lead to the rise in price of fertilizers, and this creates the risks of a new increase in the cost of food.
Later during the speech at the plenary session, in the framework of the XVIII annual meeting of the Valdai club, the Russian leader stated that Gazprom could put additional volumes of Europe in the case of the launch of the North Stream-2 gas pipeline. For what reason, the Russian exporter does not use existing transit capacity to solve the problem, Putin did not specify.