European Union countries have reached a political agreement to reduce their gas use by next winter. This is because Europe is preparing for winter with uncertain gas supplies from Russia.
"This is not Mission Impossible! The ministers have reached a political agreement on reducing gas demand ahead of next winter," the Czech Republic, who holds the post of President of the European Union, wrote in a tweet Tuesday (26/7), as quoted by Al Jazeera.
Under the agreement, EU countries will voluntarily cut gas use by 15% from August 2022 to March 2023. The gas reduction could be binding in a gas supply emergency.
But, EU countries agreed to exclude many countries and industries, after several governments rejected the bloc's original proposal to impose binding 15% cuts on each country.
According to the EU's head of energy policy, Kadri Samson, the deal would result in enough gas savings to last through the winter, if Russia completely cuts supply by this July.
"Our preliminary calculations show that even if all exceptions are used in full, we will achieve a reduction in demand that will help us safely through the winter season," he said, as reported by Al Jazeera.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia hoped the gas turbines for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would be installed "faster", but had not yet arrived after maintenance in Canada.
The statement came after Russian energy giant Gazprom announced it would reduce gas supplies to Europe to just 20% of full capacity, citing maintenance.
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"Yes, there are indeed some defects in the turbine. The turbine has not arrived after major maintenance, it is on its way. We hope it will be installed sooner," Peskov said, adding that other turbines also had some defects.
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