The EC has not ruled out limiting gas prices from Russia when deliveries are cut off

The European Commission wants to allow governments to limit gas prices for consumers if Russian fuel supplies stop, Welt am Sonntag found

The European Commission wants to allow governments to limit gas prices for consumers in the event of a halt in supplies from Russia, writes the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, citing an EC document on "short-term interventions in the energy market", Reuters reports.

According to the document, EU member states will be able to regulate fuel prices during a transitional period to protect them from a surge even before shortages occur.

At the end of March, Russia transferred payments for gas with unfriendly countries into rubles. Starting April 1, companies from these countries are required to open two accounts with Gazprombank - one in foreign currency and one in rubles. First, the payment will go to the foreign currency account, after which the bank will sell the currency on the stock exchange and credit the rubles to the second account. The Kremlin said that Moscow would not supply gas to Europe for free. “No payment, no gas,” said Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian president. The list of "unfriendly" states includes all EU countries, the USA and some others. The European Commission acknowledged that Moscow's demand to pay in rubles is contrary to EU sanctions.

Peskov considered another "duck" messages about plans to turn off the gas in Finland Politics

At the end of April, Gazprom stopped pumping gas to Poland and Bulgaria due to their refusal to pay for fuel in Russian currency. The head of the EC, Ursula von der Leyen, called it blackmail, but the Kremlin did not agree with her.

According to the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, the EU will be able to refuse Russian gas within two years. At the same time, he noted that European countries are striving to diversify supplies and "reduce dependence on Russian energy raw materials, but not ban it."

As Bloomberg reported, the European Union is considering the possibility of replacing gas from Russia with LNG supplies from African countries, in particular from Nigeria, Senegal and Angola.

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