Putin's finger on the gas tap
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
20.10.2014 15:11
As President Putin says he could be forced to turn off gas supply to EU if Ukraine continues to “syphon off” deliveries, an EU commissioner says that the bloc is better prepared than five years ago.
President Putin in Belgrade, Serbia on Friday: photo - : EPA / DANIEL DAL Zennaro
Last week, during his visit to Belgrade, Russian president Vladimir Putin issued a warning to European partners, that should Ukraine continue to “syphon gas” - as he put it - from transit heading west, Gazprom would be compelled to impose limitations on deliveries to the EU.
Those, of course, are not Russia's intentions, President Putin assured.
Meanwhile, a report compiled on the basis of stress-tests simulating a situation when Russia would not be sending ordered quantities of gas shows the European Union is much better prepared for potential disruptions in Russian gas deliveries than, for instance, five years ago.
"Compared to 2009, our storage capabilities have been expanded and tanks filled to greater capacity. We have two new gas pipelines, we have a European economic recovery program and two new LNG terminals,” EU energy commissioner Gunther Oettinger told journalists in Brussels.