Economist estimated ability of Germany to survive winter without gas

Even if the winter in Germany is normal, with typical average temperatures, by the end of February, the population of gas storage facilities can fall to 20 percent, the economist, director of the Economic Direction of the Institute of Energy and Finance, HSE Marcel Salikhov, believes. In a conversation with “Ribbon.ru,” he added that the country is able to survive the winter and with such gas reserves, however, in the case of low temperatures, the need for additional purchases will appear.

The population of the gas storage in Germany fell below 60 percent. This was announced by the newspaper HandelsBlatt Executive Director of the German Association of Operators of Underground Gas Stores (INES) Sebastian Bleshka. Salikhov noted that this is an extremely low level, which is 20 percent less than perennial averages.

Forecast

According to the economist, according to current forecasts, the abnormally cold winter is not expected in Germany. Therefore, if the temperatures are close to medium, typical of the region, the country has a chance to survive the season even with such small gas reserves.

“Even in this case, by the end of February, the reserves will be at minimum levels, less than 20 percent,” Salikhov believes. “But if winter is cold, there may be serious problems and the need for gas supplements. Germany has no LNG terminals. But you can try to negotiate with Russia or buy gas through other countries. “

But to negotiate with Russia, as the interlocutor “Trent.ru” noted, may not work. And the matter will not be in the unwillingness of the country to come to the aid, but in the absence of free power.

“production is now at the maximum levels, Gazprom almost does not sell gas on its trading platforms, and stocks in storages are also at the minimum levels. All this indicates that there are simply no free capacity from Russia. Of course, You can find some reserves, but small and only in a critical situation, “Salikhov emphasized. – In any case, this is a decision at the level of government governments.”

On October 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed Gazprom to increase volumes in European gas storage facilities after replenishing Russian reserves.

/Media reports.