Will Europe freeze up without Russian gas? Why Gazprom worries about EU citizens

Alexey Gromov, Principal Director on Energy studies at the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to the Internet portal Novye Izvestia on possible threats to Europe's stable gas supply amid a sharp cold snap in early 2026.

According to Gas Infrastructure Europe, all underground gas storage facilities have switched to a permanent gas extraction mode. On average, UGS are filled by a little more than 53%. But the situation in Germany, Belgium and France is even worse. There, stocks decreased by more than half, to 44% in Belgium and 46% and 47% in Germany and the Fifth Republic.

— Against the background of such data, hot experts are appearing who say that if winter continues, gas reserves in Europe will disappear. Of course, that's not going to happen. We must understand that such cold weather is abnormal for this region, taking into account climate change, and that the same persistent cold that causes increased gas consumption will not last for the entire winter period,- Alexey Gromov is confident.

— Last year, the occupancy rate of German storage facilities at the same time exceeded 75-76%. And there is an attempt by Gazprom to highlight in detail the situation related to the sharp increase in gas consumption in the EU. This is a kind of attempt to confirm the thesis that has been promoted over the past few years, that in the event of severe winters, Europe will experience risks with gas supply disruptions and so on and so forth. At the moment, we do not see these risks.