The shortage of fuel is spreading around the world and
\naffecting the global economy, threatening to cause recession and a new wave of
\ninflation. Under the circumstances, Europe is looking for solutions and is
\ntaking important decisions. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
One such decision, was taken on Tuesday by EU member
\nstates, who agreed to ration their gas consumption so as to be able to build
\nstocks in case Russia halts gas deliveries. According to the latest report by
\nthe European Commission, almost half of EU member states would be affected by a
\npartial or full cut in gas supplies. In June this year, the amount of gas
\nsupplied by Russia was 30% lower compared with the previous five years’
\naverage. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Under the agreement signed in Brussels, EU countries
\nwill voluntarily reduce their gas consumption by 15% by the end of March next
\nyear. There are some exemptions, namely countries that are not connected to the
\ngas networks of other EU territories. Also, countries that meet the Union’s
\ntarget of filling their gas reserves by August may benefit from lower targets.
\nThis will be Spain’s case, which will voluntarily cut gas use by only 7% on
\naccount of its status as an energy island and its large storage capacity following
\nmajor investments to this end. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Germany, which is Europe’s biggest gas user, welcomed
\nthe EU’s coordinated efforts to save gas, emphasising that the EU will remain
\nunited in the face of Russia’s cut in gas supplies. Hungary was the only
\ncountry to reject the agreement reached in Brussels, which it views as
\nunjustifiable, unenforceable and harmful, saying it completely ignores the interests of Hungarians. Hungary believes the security of energy supply is a
\nmatter for the national governments of each individual EU country. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Ukraine said the gas war waged by the Russian
\npresident Vladimir Putin against Europe is a direct continuation of his war
\nagainst Ukraine and the only solution is full independence from Russian gas.
\nMeanwhile, Gazprom has continued to reduce gas deliveries to Europe through the
\nNorth Stream pipeline, with Putin saying recently that Russia intends to have its
\ngas supply. He justified the move invoking the slow pace of repair works. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
As far as Romania is concerned, following the
\nagreement reached in Brussels, the authorities gave assurances that the
\nadditional measures that will be taken in order to reduce gas consumption will
\nnot affect private users, small and medium sized companies, the social services
\nand the industry. The government says the country already has sufficient gas
\nstocks and its storage facilities will be filled 80%, as the EU recommends, before
\n1st November. (CM)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
European Commission says Russia is using natural gas as a weapon and recommends EU member states to cut gas use.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":91988,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[30821],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-92919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-gas"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n