"It may raise the stakes in the game." Why Russia imposed sanctions against subsidiaries of Gazprom

Marcel Salikhov, President of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to RTVI on the introduction of counter-sanctions by Russia.

Marcel Salikhov, Head of the Economic department at the Institute for Energy and Finance, told RTVI that the inclusion of Gazprom's subsidiaries on the sanctions list would not have a "significant impact" on the European gas market, so this decision was "expected".

The analyst suggests that these companies came under sanctions after Gazprom's subsidiary, Gazprom Germania, was actually nationalized in Germany in early April - the company was transferred under the control of the Federal Network Agency (BNA).

According to Salikhov, after the companies were nationalized, Gazprom decided to take away from its subsidiaries those preferences that they received while under the control of the Russian company.

“Now, in fact, these companies have been nationalized, and an attractive contract continues to operate. From Gazprom's point of view: why? Our company was taken away, and we still have to supply gas under good conditions. This is illogical in terms of confrontation. In general, the logic is this: “you took our company, we can’t work with it, now deal with it yourself, this is your headache,” the analyst said.