FT has learned about Greece's intention to become Europe's new gas hub

Greece expects to become a central link in the import of liquefied natural gas to Europe, mainly from the United States, while the European Union is preparing to completely abandon Russian gas supplies by 2027. This was reported on February 22 by the Financial Times newspaper.

"Athens expects that Greece's geographical location, along with the expansion of LNG production capacity, modernization of infrastructure and close ties with Washington, will be able to ensure its central place in the European gas market," the article says.

The authors of the article noted that Athens has also completed the construction of the Greece—Bulgaria interregional pipeline and increased its capacity through two new compressor stations in the north of the country.

"This year is the first time the market has shown such high activity in the long term. <...> They consider Greece as a strategically important point," said Maria Rita Galli, ex-CEO of the Greek operator DESFA.

However, high gas prices remain a problem, the newspaper noted.

"If we add up the duties levied on Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, <...> the total amount becomes significant. It is currently too high for this route to be commercially viable in the long term," said Julian Bowden, a senior researcher at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.

The most important thing is the weather: how the freezes have inflated gas prices in the EU

The European economy has become dependent on the severity of winter

On January 26, the EU Council approved a complete ban on the supply of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) from 2027. By March 1, 2026, European countries should prepare plans to diversify gas supplies and identify "potential problems" in replacing Russian gas.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed on January 28 that the EU's plans to abandon Russian gas are Europe's problem. He added that European countries are abandoning the most competitive Russian piped or liquefied natural gas and condemning themselves to dependence on a small number of US gas sources at very high prices.

Frank Kane, a business analyst and adviser to the Ministry of Energy of Saudi Arabia, reported on January 30 that Europe faced difficulties in finding alternative sources of hydrocarbons after the refusal of supplies from Russia, which limits its energy policy options.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.