Russian President Putin Orders State Gas Company to Expand Gas Supply to Europe Starting Next Month on the 8th

Conciliatory Measures Amid Concerns Over Natural Gas Resource Weaponization
Proposal to Expand Gas Supply to Moldova Faces Political Criticism

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly instructed the state-owned energy company Gazprom to increase gas supplies to Europe starting from the 8th of next month. This move is interpreted as a conciliatory gesture amid criticism from the European Union (EU) accusing Russia of weaponizing resources by controlling the volume of gas supplied to Europe.

According to Russian state news agency TASS and others on the 27th (local time), President Putin, during a video conference, directed Alexey Miller, CEO of the Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom, to "complete the injection of gas into domestic underground storage facilities and then increase supplies to European storage facilities." Following this directive, Gazprom announced plans to store 72.6 billion cubic meters of gas in Russian underground storage by the 8th of next month and then increase the supply to European storage facilities.

At the meeting, President Putin emphasized, "There will be an opportunity to fulfill contractual obligations in a stable, sustainable, and smooth manner," adding, "Above all, a more favorable situation will be created for Europe's overall energy sector." CEO Miller responded in kind, stating, "After completing the injection of gas into Russian underground storage, we will begin injecting gas into Europe," and "The reliability and stability of (gas) supply this winter will clearly improve."

Previously, Gazprom faced criticism from various European countries for significantly reducing gas supplies to overseas underground storage facilities in Austria and Germany while stockpiling gas for domestic use. Particularly in countries like Spain and Germany, where electricity generation heavily relies on natural gas, the power shortage has worsened. With the surge in heating demand during winter approaching and gas inventories in Europe hitting their lowest levels in a decade, the gas shortage crisis has intensified, leading to further criticism.

In fact, Russia has recently been reported to have offered gas supplies to neighboring Moldova in exchange for weakening its relations with the EU. German media outlet Deutsche Welle (DW), citing an energy expert from Moldova, criticized, "This gas crisis is a threat operation by the Putin administration," adding, "There were no issues with gas supply in recent years, but recently pro-Russian forces have lost influence domestically. This is no coincidence."

Earlier, aware of such criticism, President Putin attended an energy forum on the 13th and stated, "The claim that energy is being used as a political weapon is complete nonsense," emphasizing, "If Europe requests, we will increase supply at any time."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.