"European companies wanted to return to Russian gas instead of LNG before officials"

Discussions have begun in Europe about restoring gas supplies from Russia. Before politicians, companies themselves were ready to do this, according to ICIS analyst Tom Marzek-Manser.

"While the Eurocrats may only be talking about increasing Russian gas imports as part of a possible deal on Ukraine, such conversations have been going on in the European industry since supplies were cut off," ICIS analyst Tom Marzek-Manser writes on X.

"Initially, no European buyer wanted to sign LNG supply contracts in the event of Gazprom's return," the expert added.

On the eve of The Financial Times reported that discussions had begun in Europe about restoring Russian gas supplies. The publication noted, for example, that Hungarian and German officials support the idea of a deal on the Ukrainian conflict, as this will reduce gas prices in Europe.

However, The Financial Times wrote, the idea has a lot of opponents who have been building alternative routes for the last three years. And Donald Trump's plans to increase LNG exports from the United States contradict a bold proposal.

As EADaily reported, over the past few years Gazprom has reduced supplies to Europe by about five times due to sanctions and counter-sanctions. In 2024, exports amounted to 32 billion cubic meters. In the same year, Kiev stopped the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine, and Gazprom's exports to Europe may almost halve. The only route left is the European line of the Turkish Stream.

Reduced supplies and a colder and windless winter in the region have led to the fact that during this heating season the exchange price of gas is kept above $ 500 per thousand cubic meters. This is not the record quotes of August 2022, when the cost of fuel reached $ 3,500, but almost three times higher than average prices in the pre-crisis five-year plan.

Hungary and Slovakia. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that the European Commission promised to deal with supplies, and warned about blocking the next sanctions against Russia if this does not happen.

"If we see that Zelensky is deceiving us, I will take retaliatory measures when it comes to the next decision on measures such as financial assistance," Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said via Facebook*.

*Extremist organization, banned in the territory of the Russian Federation