EC: EU Must Prepare to Stop Gas Supplies from Russia

On Saturday, European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said the European Union (EU) must be prepared for the possibility of facing disruption of gas supplies from Russia at any moment.

Before a meeting of the European Council at the level of energy and transport ministers, the official mentioned that yesterday's statement from Gazprom (the Russian company) only confirms the western countries' need to be prepared for a possible interruption of gas supplies from Moscow at any moment.

She noted that in order to improve energy security, the EU will proactively reduce gas consumption, and this will allow the continued filling of gas storage facilities.

According to the European official, at the moment the occupancy level in storage facilities is 66%.

On his part, Jozef Síkela, the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic called on the President of the European Council, today to take measures as soon as possible to reduce dependence on Russian gas, against the background of supply cuts from "Gazprom".

Yesterday, the Russian company "Gazprom" announced that it would stop operating another "Siemens" turbine in the "North Stream-1" (a gas pipeline from Russia to Germany through the bottom of the Baltic), noting that the volume of gas pumping through the "North Stream" gas pipeline will be reduced by as much as 33 million cubic meters per day, which is up to 20% of the nominal capacity of the line.