Gas station. File photoATHENA, May 2Europe is facing a huge energy crisis due to the conflict in Ukraine, Greek Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas, who arrived at the extraordinary meeting of EU energy ministers in Brussels, said earlier. Skrekas said that Greece will raise the question of how to pay for Russian gas to Gazprom in the European Union at the Council of Energy Ministers. Russia covers up to 45% of Greece's gas needs, and in some periods up to 55%.Sanctions could harm the EU more than Russia, says Prime Minister of Greece»A huge energy crisis threatens the whole of Europe. Today, at the Council of Energy Ministers, I will convey a message from the Greek government and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of solidarity with the Ukrainian people, on ensuring the sufficiency of Europe's natural gas supply , as well as the need to take collective measures to support households, especially the most vulnerable, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises due to the huge increase in energy prices,» Skrekas said. He did not answer the question of journalists whether Greece would support the oil embargo from Russia. Prime Minister Mitsotakis held a meeting on energy last Wednesday after Gazprom's decision to completely suspend gas supplies to Bulgargaz (Bulgaria) and PGNiG (Poland) in connection with the refusal to switch to a new payment scheme. After the meeting, the prime minister's press service assured that there were enough energy resources, no interruptions in supplies to the country were expected, and the next payments to Gazprom would be made in the third decade of May. On Saturday, April 30, Mitsotakis said that Europe should be careful about sanctions against Russia so that they do not hurt the EU countries more than the Russian Federation, since the European economy cannot completely abandon Russian natural gas overnight.
Berlin supported EU plans to embargo oil imports from RussiaRussian oil and gas is unlikely to be completely replaced by the European Union in the next 5-10 years, key industry players agree on this opinion, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak pointed out earlier. He noted that even just discussing Europe's refusal of Russian oil is negative for the market, he immediately reacts to this. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, without Russian oil and gas, the world will collapse, and prices will be unpredictable. The rejection of Russian oil and gas will have enormous consequences for the European and world economies, said Dmitry Birichevsky, Director of the Department of Economic Cooperation of the Russian Foreign Ministry. According to him, Europe is very dependent on Russian gas and oil. Even if it moves to total savings, finds suppliers in other regions of the world and switches to renewable energy sources, «in the most ideal scenario» it will be able to replace only 80% of energy resources, he said, stressing that in reality even less. Experts are sure that the increase in energy prices in March to record levels caused by sanctions against the Russian Federation is not the limit, Novak said.
