Serbia's energy security still partly depends on Russian gas and limited storage capacity for the same. Although the change of such policy has been talked about for years, there are no concrete developments
Due to the dispute between the companies OMV and Gazprom, Russia will stop supplying gas to Austria from Saturday. The Austrian chancellor claims that there is no reason to worry and that the country's gas storages are full
Over 90 percent of natural gas imported into Serbia comes from Russia. The two countries' gas supply contract expires next year and its future seems uncertain. It seems that the brotherly love between Vučić and Putin has cooled. While the president of Serbia is weighing the invitation of his Russian counterpart to the BRICS summit, Serbia is signing agreements with the United States of America
The Minister of Finance of Serbia, Siniša Mali, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, Peter Szijarto, pointed out that Bulgaria's decision to introduce a tax on Russian gas is a hostile step.
A sign that the region has avoided an energy crisis is the price of natural gas, which is now the lowest in the last 18 months, reports CNN. Prices have been reduced due to unexpectedly warm weather this winter, as well as the region's efforts to rationalize gas consumption, find alternative suppliers and fill storage facilities.
The ministers of energy decided that the decision on limiting the price of gas will be applied from February 15. Giving up Russian gas due to the situation in Ukraine has already cost Europe about 1.000 billion dollars
The completion of the construction of this gas interconnector enabled the supply of gas from Azerbaijan to Southeast Europe. This network will also be connected to Serbia, which with the help of the European Union and the European Central Bank (EIB) has been building the Niš-Dimitrovgrad gas interconnector since January of this year. This will represent the beginning of the end of Serbia's almost complete dependence on Russian gas
Energy costs (gas and electricity) have risen 6,5 times on average in just one year. There is no country in Europe that does not feel the catastrophic consequences of such an energy shock. With such high electricity and gas prices, Europe is threatened with deindustrialization, because factories will simply move to those parts of the world where the price of energy is affordable. In the USA, the price of gas is currently six times lower than in Europe, and the situation is similar with the price of electricity
While the European Union is preparing to introduce the sixth "package" of sanctions against Russia due to the attack on Ukraine, it is still certain that gas will continue to flow from the largest country in the world to Europe. It is not certain for oil. Serbian officials say that the next winter will be very difficult, but they do not say how they will solve the problem
The American newspaper "Washington Post" quotes Edward Chow, an expert on energy security, who says: "I don't know how this will end, but everything points to the forecast that it could end very badly for both Western Europe and Russia."
Gazprom's announcement that it is unilaterally stopping the delivery of gas to customers in Europe is another attempt by Russia to use gas as an instrument of blackmail, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said and said that it was "unjustified and unacceptable".
On Wednesday, shortly after 4 a.m., the flow of gas through the "Jamal" gas pipeline was interrupted. Gazprom turned off the faucet for Poland and Bulgaria on April 27, as it had announced. Both countries refused to pay bills in rubles, which Moscow demanded
A Greenpeace study shows that Germany should pay 32 billion euros to Russia this year for oil and gas. In today's political situation, this is interpreted as Vladimir Putin financing the Russian aggression against Ukraine with German money, in which innocent Ukrainian civilians are being killed. The government in Berlin announced under pressure that by the end of 2022, it will stop the complete import of Russian oil, and will get rid of Russian gas in 2024.
Fuel prices in Germany have crossed the psychological barrier of two euros per liter and this could be just the beginning of the impact on drivers' pockets. The Russian aggression against Ukraine and the accompanying sanctions will also make heating more expensive. Alternatives to Russian energy sources are expensive and distant. But that is, as they say now, "the price of freedom"
No one seems to be satisfied with the German government's handling of the Ukrainian crisis. Neither the few left-wing opponents of interventionism and NATO, nor the numerous proponents of the thesis that "Putin only understands the language of force"
As of January 1, the state will increase pensions by 5,5 percent, which at the current rate of inflation means that pensioners' incomes will decrease by 2 percent in real terms. And that's just the beginning, just as drastic price increases are yet to come
