Greece against a cap on Russian natural gas

The EU27 are divided on the Commission’s proposal

Greece opposes a cap on the supply of Russian natural gas favouring the solution to set a maximum price in the Dutch TTF, differentiating its policy in relation to the measures announced on Wednesday by the European Commission.

According to statements to protothema.gr, Minister of Environment and Energy Kostas Skrekas said Greece would present its position at the Council of Energy Ministers on Friday, where he will attend in Brussels to participate in the extraordinary meeting that will ratify the solutions to deal with the energy crisis at the upcoming Summit.

There are already cracks among the EU27 and serious objections regarding the cap measure announced by the Commission aimed at relieving the huge burden on their economies due to astronomical prices of natural gas.

After the Czech Republic, which announced yesterday (7/9) openly that it disagrees with the imposition of a cap on Russian natural gas, considering it to be a political tool and not an effective solution, other countries such as Poland, Hungary, Slovakia followed suit today while serious objections are also raised by the Greek side. Greece proposes a cap on the price of the TTF with a specific proposal that the Greek Prime Minister has also submitted to the EU for months. The Greek side considers the cap on Russian gas to be a controversial measure largely aimed at financially punishing the Kremlin for the war in Ukraine without normalising the market situation.

On the contrary, the complete interruption of the flow of natural gas to European countries is predicted to trigger a new wave of price hikes, increasing the need for consumer subsidies which are currently the biggest headache for national budgets.

The reasoning by which Greece is differentiating its position was also expressed on social media by the managing director of DEPA Emporia, Mr. Kostas Xifaras.