Economist points to failure of Europe's attempts to refuse Russian gas

Europe cannot do without Russian gas, Mikhail Belyaev, a financial analyst and candidate of economic sciences, told Izvestia on December 6. Among the advantages of the Russian energy resource, he named the price, as well as the stability of supplies, which, moreover, can be increased.

"Europe has tried to do without Russian gas. But, firstly, it has exhausted its possibilities to rationalize its consumption," the expert noted.

On the other hand, European countries have tapped all the sources they could for supplies, and they too have already approached saturation, the economist specified.

"And the most important point is that, if [Europe] finds some hypothetical suppliers, it should be understood that this gas is supplied either through pipes, but the pipes are also loaded, or [in liquefied form]. And for gas that is supplied in liquefied form, you need to have a terminal for regasification - there are restrictions here too," the analyst added.

Restrictions from such external sources of supply already exist, while countries can still increase gas imports from Russia. The pipes that run to Western Europe, one way or another, still have quite serious reserves for increasing supplies, Belyaev emphasized.

"Among the advantages of Russian gas, firstly, is that it is possible to increase its supply. Secondly, it is cheaper. Of course, we trade at market prices, we are not ready to present colossal discounts to anyone, but still gas supplies from Russia are cheaper. And thirdly, the supplies are stable, they will not be disrupted," the economist explained.

Speaking about the countries that are most interested in purchasing Russian gas, he mentioned Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria, among others. At the same time, Russia has gas pipelines that enter Europe from the southern side, and then the energy resource is distributed to the states.

Earlier in the day, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin told reporters on the margins of the Verona Eurasian Economic Forum that Serbia is asking Russia to increase the volume of gas supplies under a new agreement, which is currently being developed by Moscow and Belgrade.

Prior to that, on November 15, Maksim Chirkov, associate professor at the Department of Economic Policy and Economic Measurements of the State University of Ukraine, noted the reliability of Russian gas supplies to European countries. He also pointed out that pipeline gas had become more attractive for buyers.