How much Russian gas will become more expensive for European countries

Marcel Salikhov, Director of the Center for Economic Expertise of the Institute for Public Administration and Governance Higher School of Economics, commented to REGNUM on forecasts of decreasing European gas demand in 2022.

In 2022, gas prices to Europe will be 14-15% higher than the average prices in 2021, Marcel Salikhov commented on forecasts of a decrease in European demand for gas in 2022.

“The main reasons for the decline in gas demand in 2022 are related to record high prices. Under these conditions, consumers will try to reduce gas usage as much as possible or replace it with alternatives. On a short-term horizon (weeks, months), this is quite difficult to do, but on a longer horizon, there will be more opportunities for replacement. Therefore, in 2022, we can expect a demand response to the record high gas prices that have been observed since the second half of 2021,” Salikhov said. — But the Russian economy will not suffer losses from the reduction of European demand for gas, even if the physical supply of Russian gas is reduced. We expect that in 2022 gas prices to Europe will be 14-15% higher than the average prices in 2021. Therefore, the reduction in physical volumes of demand will be offset by the price factor.”