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ATHENS: Europe is threatened by a huge energy crisis in connection with the conflict in Ukraine, said Greek Minister of Environment and Energy Kostas Skrekas, who arrived at an extraordinary meeting of EU energy ministers in Brussels.
Previously, Skrekas said that Greece would raise the issue of how to pay for Russian gas to Gazprom in the European Union at the Council of Energy Ministers. Russia covers up to 45% of Greece’s gas needs, and in some periods up to 55%.
Skrekas said, “Today at the Council of Energy Ministers, I will deliver a message from the Greek government and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on solidarity with the Ukrainian people. Also on ensuring the adequacy of Europe’s natural gas supply, and on the need to take collective measures to support households, especially the most vulnerable, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises due to the huge increase in energy prices,”
He did not answer a question from journalists whether Greece would support an embargo on oil supplies from Russia.
Prime Minister Mitsotakis held an energy meeting last Wednesday after Gazprom’s decision to completely suspend gas supplies to Bulgargaz (Bulgaria) and PGNiG (Poland) due to a refusal to switch to a new payment scheme.
After the meeting, the prime minister’s press service assured that there were enough energy resources, no interruptions in supplies to the country were expected, and the next payments to Gazprom would be made in the third decade of May.
Earlier, Mitsotakis said that Europe should be careful about sanctions against Russia so that they do not hurt the EU countries more than the Russian Federation since the European economy cannot completely abandon Russian natural gas overnight.
The European Union is unlikely to be able to replace Russian oil and gas in the next 5-10 years, key industry players agree with this opinion, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak pointed out earlier. He noted that even just discussing Europe’s refusal of Russian oil is negative for the market. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, without Russian oil and gas, the world will collapse, and prices will be unpredictable.
The rejection of Russian oil and gas will entail colossal consequences for the European and world economies, noted the director of the department for economic cooperation of the Russian Foreign Ministry Dmitry Birichevsky.
According to him, Europe is very dependent on Russian gas and oil. Even if it moves to total savings, finds suppliers in other regions of the world, and switches to renewable energy sources, “in the most ideal scenario” it will be able to replace only 80% of energy resources, he said, stressing that in reality even less. Experts are sure that the increase in energy prices in March to record levels caused by sanctions against the Russian Federation is not the limit, Novak said.
