ECS-Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl: there is no beneficiary of the reduction of gas supplies from Russia, Poland and the Baltic countries previously proposed to impose a full embargo on gas from Russia, Austria, Hungary, Serbia and Germany opposed it. According to Kneissl, there can be no beneficiary in such an embargo In the whole situation that has developed in the world today, there is not a single country that could act as a beneficiary to reduce gas supplies from Russia. This was stated by former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (WEF). “In this whole situation, there is no beneficiary at all,” she said, answering the question of who could be the geopolitical beneficiary of the gas embargo. Kneissl headed the Austrian Foreign Ministry in 2017–2019 under Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. In 2018, she married Wolfgang Mailinger, the wedding was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin. He stayed at the event for about an hour. In particular, during this time he danced with the bride. In June 2021, Kneissl joined the Board of directors of Rosneft as an independent director, but left this post less than a year later. In August of this year, she told about moving to Lebanon because of the threats she received.
The European Union has imposed several packages of sanctions against Russia since the end of February. The sixth package included a partial embargo on the import of Russian oil, but restrictions on the supply of Russian gas were not included in it. In particular, Austria, Hungary, Serbia and Germany opposed the introduction of such an embargo.
Nevertheless, according to Bloomberg, already on September 7, the EU will discuss proposals on the introduction of a “price ceiling” for gas from Russia. The meeting will discuss two possible instruments to curb prices: the price limit for imported gas and administrative pricing during an emergency for the regions most affected by supply disruptions.
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In response to Western sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the transfer of gas payments for unfriendly countries in rubles. The scheme has been in effect since April 1. According to the presidential decree, companies from such states must open two accounts with Gazprombank in foreign currency and rubles. The bank must receive euros or dollars, and then convert them into rubles on the Moscow Stock Exchange and transfer rubles to the second account.
Some countries agreed to supplies in rubles, but the European Commission considered this method of paying for gas to be a circumvention of anti-Russian sanctions. Due to the refusal to pay in Russian currency, Gazprom, in particular, stopped deliveries to France, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Poland and Finland. Gazprom has also reduced gas supplies to Italy to 20 million cubic meters, and since September 2 it has completely cut off supplies via the Nord Stream-1 main route to Germany.
Russia has repeatedly pointed out that restrictive measures “turn into a boomerang for Western economies”, and Moscow may tighten its “special measures”. Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov said earlier that Europe will not be able to abandon Russian gas, most likely even by 2027, as this will lead to a shutdown of European industry.
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