Americans are pushing Gazprom out of Europe

Alexey Gromov, Principal Director on Energy studies at the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented on the prospects for replacing Russian gas in the EU with supplies of American LNG to the Novye Izvestia Internet portal.

The new American initiative raises many questions. However, there is an obvious threat here. The situation may change dramatically for Hungary and Slovakia, Alexey Gromov believes:

— It is quite realistic to implement this route in a year and a half, if the parties agree quickly enough and begin the practical construction phase. Thus, those countries that had no alternatives to Russian gas, such as Hungary and Slovakia, will have access to American LNG through the American pipeline that connects Croatia with these countries. In the future, Serbia, which also depends on Russian gas and has no other pipeline alternatives, may join this pipeline. Thus, the project benefits America from the point of view of commercializing US gas interests in Europe.

The total and partial replacement of Gazprom may affect not only and not so much Russia as Turkey. The new alternative pipeline will reduce the importance of the Turkish Stream for the countries of Southern Europe. Accordingly, Erdogan's prestigious project, the gas hub, will also suffer. Without Russian gas, there will be nothing to trade on the Bosphorus.

— The Turkish gas hub without Russia will not play a significant role, since at the moment only supplies from Azerbaijan can be an alternative to Russian supplies through Turkey. The prospects for supplies from Iraqi Kurdistan, especially from Iran, are as vague as they have been. There is no progress there," the expert states.

— Of course, from an economic point of view, Gazprom will need to make a decision by the end of 2026 on what to do with the gas transmission system in the western direction. From my point of view, it would be logical to make a decision on its conservation, thereby saving both natural gas and the company's costs, redirecting them to other projects in Russia," Alexey Gromov believes.