EU reaches agreement to reduce gas use

After negotiations on Tuesday, EU member states have agreed that states must voluntarily reduce gas use by 15 percent from August to March.

“This was not an impossible mission,” said the Czech Republic, which holds the EU presidency for the next six months.

However, in some draft plans seen by the British broadcaster the BBC, it has been suggested that the deal is tenuous, as states could seek exemptions.

“In an effort to increase the EU’s security of energy supplies, member states have reached political agreements to voluntarily reduce their use of natural gas by 15 percent this winter,” the EU said.

“The purpose of reducing gas use is to have reserves for the winter in order to prepare for a gas cut by Russia, which is using energy supplies as a weapon.”

The voluntary gas reduction agreement can be made mandatory in case of an emergency.

The EU has said that some countries, which are not connected to other countries’ pipelines, may constitute an exception to the requirement for such a reduction, since they do not have alternative supplies.

This agreement comes after Russia’s state-owned energy company, Gazprom, has announced a further reduction in gas supplies to Germany to allow for work on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

The pipeline, which carries gas from Russia to Germany, has been sending gas below capacity for weeks now.

Months ago, Gazprom already halted gas supplies to Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Poland, after they refused to comply with the Kremlin’s order to pay bills in rubles, rather than dollars or euros.

Earlier this month, the pipeline – Russia’s largest in Europe – was shut down for 10 days of work, prompting concerns in Europe that it may never return to work.

Deliveries resumed five days ago – albeit with reduced capacity.

However, on Monday, Gazprom said it will stop supplies once again.

This time the company said it had to stop supplies almost half way in order to carry out the work.

However, the German government has said there is no technical reason to limit supplies.

Zelensky: Russia is blackmailing Europe through gas
Ukraine has accused Moscow of “gas war” against Europe, as well as of stopping supplies to incite “terror” against people.

“The gas blackmail in Europe, which only gets worse every month, is necessary for the terrorist state in order to make life difficult for every European”, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his daily address.

He has said that Russia is deliberately making it harder for Europe to prepare for winter, regardless of the situation that people may face in that season.

The European Union secured 40 percent of gas from Russia last year.

The news of another reduction in the amount of gas increases the pressure on EU countries to reduce their dependence on Russian gas.

This decision also makes it even more difficult for them to secure gas for the winter months.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine by Russia on February 24, the price of gas has increased and this conflict has had an impact on energy bills around the world.

The Kremlin has said the high prices are the result of Western sanctions, insisting it is a reliable energy partner and is not responsible for recent disruptions in gas supplies.

Meanwhile, Ukraine still hopes that the agreement reached with Russia, brokered by the United Nations, will mean that grain exports resume from Black Sea ports “within days”.

“If the parties guarantee security, the agreement will be implemented. If not, it will not be implemented”, said the Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure, Oleksandr Kubrakov.

In his daily address, Zelensky said he believes that wheat exports from Ukraine will start again this week.

His comments followed concerns that the deal could fall apart after Russia targeted the key Ukrainian port of Odesan with missiles on Saturday.

About 20 million tons of wheat are stuck in Ukraine, unable to be transported, because the Russian navy controls most of the Black Sea.

top channel