Russia loses European gas market - expert

Currently, Russian supplies cover 8-9% of the European gas demand, while previously, the aggressor power effectively dominated the European market.

That’s according to Oleksandr Kharchenko, chief of the Energy Research Center think tank, who spoke at a briefing hosted by the Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform Friday.

"As of now, Russia has withdrawn from the European gas market. Against the situation where it used to actually control it, they are now supplying approximately 8-9% of the volumes consumed by Europe," Kharchenko said.

According to the expert, these volumes are now in further decline.

"Russia lost the European market by its own efforts. If Ukraine had fought for it, and Russia had continued supplies, we would not have achieved such an effect for another five years," the expert commented.

He noted that the annual loss of $55 billion, which came from gas exports, would be painful for Russia's budget.

As reported, early September, the European Commission designated two possible options for capping the price for Russian gas in the wake of yet another reduction in supplies by Russia’s Gazprom.

On September 2, Gazprom put all gas flows to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipe to a full halt. At the same time, the EU increased shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) or pipeline gas from the U.S., Norway, Algeria, Azerbaijan, and other suppliers.