Europe turns up the pipe

Sergey Kondratiev, Principal Director on Economic Studies at the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented on the Russian gas supply to the EU to the Kommersant newspaper.

As the expert notes, the restrictions are imposed only for Russia and Belarus, that is, they are clearly discriminatory. The European Commission, justifying this measure, appeals to "ensuring security", but at the same time also points out that such restrictions should not contradict the EU's international obligations, and they can be introduced at the national level only after studying the risks, including for other members of the bloc. Thus, the expert believes, now the risks that EU countries will use the new regulation to refuse supplies from Russia are minimal.