(Dan Tri) – Russia has dominated Europe in the gas game for more than half a year because Moscow is the leading supplier, but experts warn that the weight of this card may be gradually decreasing.
Experts say that when Europe finds an alternative source of Russian energy, this card may lose weight (Photo: EPA).
Not long after Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine on February 24, European energy ministers and diplomats began traveling around the world to sign agreements.
Russia then cited technical reasons arising from embargoes to gradually reduce gas supplies to Europe.
Whatever the underlying cause, the reality that Europe must accept is that they are facing serious energy insecurity after decades of dependence on Russia.
According to the New York Times, European leaders themselves have to admit that the era of buying cheap Russian gas has ended.
However, this does not mean that European countries are not affected by the energy crisis, as they are facing risks of social unrest and reduced determination to cope.
Gas prices increased several times compared to normal levels, causing intense pressure on businesses and consumers.
According to Western experts, Russia seems to be waiting for a scenario where the West gets into trouble when they begin to be strongly affected by the economic crisis and record inflation.
`We have, are and will not lose anything (after opening the military campaign in Ukraine),` Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on September 7.
Signal of determination from Europe
However, according to the New York Times, European leaders are signaling that, for many months, they have been preparing for the scenario of Russia tightening its power gas card and have found a countermeasure.
`Our efforts have paid off! When the fighting began, gas flowing through Russian pipelines accounted for 40% of all European gas imports. Now this figure has dropped to 9%,`
European leaders, especially from Italy and Germany, have been negotiating with a series of global suppliers from Algeria to Qatar, Senegal, Congo and Canada, to find alternative sources of Russian gas.
Germany, the country most dependent on Russian gas, has also received commitments from Norway and the Netherlands to increase production of the above product for Berlin to cope with the energy crisis.
As a result, Germany’s dependence on cheap Russian gas – which once accounted for more than half of all gas imports – fell to less than 10% in August. In Italy, gas imports from Moscow fell from 40%
German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz and other European leaders now accept the fact that the era of buying cheap Russian gas is over.
An internal Russian government economic forecast seen by Bloomberg estimates that completely cutting off gas to Europe would reduce Moscow’s tax revenue by about $6.6 billion – a huge sum.
Yesterday, the EU also announced a proposal to impose a price ceiling on Russian gas to put pressure on Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine, although Russia had previously warned that it would cut off supply to any party that made moves that
However, in this confrontation, Russia is still the more proactive side, due to its abundant resources.
Over the past half year, despite Europe’s efforts to move away from Moscow’s energy sector, Russia still earned huge revenues from gas and oil as prices of these commodities skyrocketed.
On the other hand, even if Europe’s alternative sources, such as liquefied natural gas, remain high, Russia’s complete gas cut to Europe would still have a major impact.
Jackson 
Daniel