Von der Leyen: The EU managed to Resist Russia’s Energy Blackmail

The EU has been able to resist Russian energy blackmail, despite Moscow cutting gas supplies by 80 percent compared to September last year. This was stated by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, quoted by BTA, at a press conference on the measures taken so far by the European institutions.

She added that this winter is secured, but next year a shortage of up to 30 billion cubic meters of gas is expected in the EU. According to her, this shortage can be overcome by increasing the share of renewable energy.

Von der Leyen called for swift approval of measures the EC proposed earlier this year, including a cap on the price of imported Russian gas and common gas procurement. According to her, the EU is on its way to achieving the goal of reducing energy consumption by 15 percent. She noted that the goal of filling European gas storages to 90 percent by the beginning of winter has been achieved and exceeded.

The chairman of the EC reported that in recent months, four new connections between the gas pipelines of neighboring countries in the EU, including the facility between Bulgaria and Greece, were discovered. She added that the commission's proposals for the redistribution of excess profits in the energy sector to compensate consumers were adopted.

Von der Leyen warned that it is not excluded that next winter Russia will completely cut off gas supplies to the EU. She pointed out that it is also possible that China will increase its energy consumption and thereby affect prices on international markets.

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