According to the Razumkov Center energy programmes director Volodymyr Omelchenko, to date, storage facilities in Germany are filled to about 65% of their designed capacity, and in Europe as a whole — to 60%.

With only a few months remaining before the beginning of the heating season, it will be problematic to fully fill the storages.

On the other hand, as Mr. Omelchenko said in his comment for the Apostrof, this year Europe can replace a large portion of the Russian gas with other sources.

"In particular, thanks to the increased deliveries of liquefied gas — while last year, there were 80 BCM of LNG, this year, 120 billion are expected, i.e. 40 BCM more," the expert says. "In addition, pipeline deliveries from Algeria, Norway, Azerbaijan are growing — this means another 50 BCM. Furthermore, gas consumption will be reduced by 40–50 BCM, to be partially replaced with coal, nuclear power, renewable energy sources, and also thanks to a decrease of the indoor air temperature."

He also reminded that Poland and the Baltic countries completely stopped buying Russian gas, having found replacement for it, including LNG.

"Therefore, in general, I do not expect a critical shortage of gas for the European Union, even if Gazprom completely cuts off deliveries," Volodymyr Omelchenko summed up.