On the 9th of September, the European Union launched its gas-saving plan. All EU countries are to voluntarily reduce gas consumption by 15% between August and March, compared to the average over the past 5 years.
The Village Ukraine asked Razumkov Centre energy expert Maksym Bielawski about the EU’s predicted actions to cope with the energy crisis and price rise, provoked by Russia, and their implications for Ukraine.
In his opinion, different countries depend on the Russian gas in different ways; hence the difference in their response. Central Europe (Germany, Italy, Austria, Slovakia) depend on it more than others. The EU market generally remains well-balanced, and Russian gas accounts for almost a third of deliveries only in the Austro-German trade area. In France, gas is much cheaper, because they import it from other sources. At the same time, Russia takes steps to complicate its oil deliveries. Nevertheless, the embargo on Russian oil deliveries won’t lead to the deficit of oil on the European market. Gas consumption has fallen, but the EU implements safety measures for the heating season, including temperature limitations in public offices. The German Government has made it clear that it won’t yield to the Russian blackmail.
Ukraine will not experience problems during the heating season if it acts responsibly.
Fur the full Ukrainian text of the interview see https://razumkov.org.ua/statti/yes-maie-ekonomyty-shchob-obiitysia-bez-rosiiskykh-energonosiiv-shcho-robytymut-i-iak-tse-vplyne-na-ukrainu
