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You must have heard about the war between Ukraine and Russia not long ago and you probably also know that after this war, European countries also demanded strict sanctions on Russia and imposed sanctions to some extent too


But Russia in turn threatened to cut gas supply to European countries In today's video we will tell you how powerful European countries like Germany, France and Italy depend on their ideological adversary Russia for gas supplies and why they depend on Russia? When and why did these countries start buying gas from Russia? Will Russia ever supply gas to European countries or not? And if it ever happens, do these European countries have gas alternatives? if they have then how useful can they be?


let's find out this all In 2020, 45 percent of the total gas imported into Europe was imported from Russia while 40 percent of the total consumption was imported from Russia. Now let's review one by one which countries imported the most gas Looking at major European economies, Germany gets 50% of its gas imports from Russia followed by Italy with 46%, while France gets 24% of its gas imports from Russia Among the major economies, Britain and Spain were less dependent on Russian gas. These two countries get gas from domestic sources or alternative sources to meet their needs This was about the major economies

Now let's look at the small and medium economies of Europe. According to the data, some small European countries are completely dependent on gas from Russia These include North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Moldova all three of which consume 100% of their gas imported from Russia Similarly, Finland 94%, Latvia 93% and Poland 40% were dependent on Russian gas While the Netherlands, Romania, Georgia, Ireland and other European countries imported less than 15% of gas from Russia Let's tell you an interesting thing here that Ukraine also depends on Russian gas to some extent But after the conflict in Crimea in 2015 it only re-imports Russian gas to European countries and not directly from Russia.



Although some part of the gas going to Europe flows through the territory of Ukraine The flow of gas from Russia to Europe began during the Cold War era when the industry was growing in Europe and new gas reserves were being discovered in the Siberian region of the then Soviet Union Now gas was the biggest need of Europe at that time because if the industry of Europe is to run, or to meet the needs of heat in winter then gas was mandatory

During the Cold War

Western European countries signed gas pipeline extension agreements with Soviet Russia as some of today's Eastern European countries were part of or supported by the Soviet Union and Russian gas was already arriving It was not easy to do this during the Cold War period

Because the United States was also looking and opposing the moves of Western European countries reason was Western Europe and the United States were NATO allies At the same time, despite all the opposition of the United States, West Germany concluded an agreement to obtain gas and in 1973, Russian gas began to reach West Germany

During this period and in the coming decades, several contracts were signed for the extension of gas pipelines Also in 2012, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was also built between Germany and Russia which directly transports Russian gas from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea

Now if we look at why the European countries started buying gas from Russia during the Cold War and after that? then the first reason is obvious that the gas obtained from Russia is cheaper for the European countries and it is supplied directly without any hurdle as we told you that Germany imports almost 50% of its gas from Russia                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Germany is also the largest industrial power in Europe it needs gas to run its large industry, to remain competitive in Europe and globally that too at cheap prices, at cheap prices gas can't be obtained other than Russia which is why Germany imports large quantities of gas from Russia Another reason is that in Europe, since the winters are longer, and a bit harsher Gas is used in Europe to keep houses warm and to meet other domestic needs, so not only for industry, but Europeans also need gas for their survival  According to 2020 figures, one-third of the gas consumed in Europe was used in homes.

A third reason is that European countries to depend on Russian gas is that they are phasing out coal-fired energy to achieve carbon neutrality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions Since in the process of obtaining energy from coal there is a lot of emission of greenhouse gases Which is very dangerous for the environment So the only option to meet the energy requirement is gas The fourth reason is that in the acquisition of nuclear energy in European countries depends on public sentiments which also affects the politics there

Whenever there is talk of getting energy from nuclear power plants, European people express their displeasure Recently, when the European Commission proposed to go towards nuclear energy after possible gas shutdown by Russia many European countries raised their voices against it because they think that in this source of energy the risk of accidents is very high.

This is the reason why the countries that have nuclear power plants are not working at their full capacity Among these countries, France and Germany are at the top In 2011, Germany decided to shut down its power plants in response to public outcry following the Fukushima disaster and 14 of the 17 power plants were shut down in the coming years and the remaining three are also scheduled to close later this year

But due to the current energy crisis, Germany is reconsidering its decision Thus, if the option of nuclear energy is also closed European countries have only Russian gas with other energy resources available at a limited level which can meet the high energy demand at cheap rates Now we know that in 2020, 40% of the total gas consumption of all European countries was imported from Russia

You can imagine how dependent Europe is on gas from just one country Russia also know ​​its importance very well But the question of whether Russia will ever completely stop gas supply to Europe or not? The answer to this question is that Russia will not do this for three reasons

First is that Russia is currently the largest exporter of gas in the world, and 45 percent of Russia's total gas is exported to European countries alone, earning hundreds of billions of dollars annually in this situation Russia will never take such a step which will hurt its economy badly

Russia will not take any such step because in this way European countries will start getting gas from alternative sources and when those alternative sources are built and become important with the time passing and they will become a threat to Russia then how Russia will export its gas to these countries and usually no country can make such blunders at the global level and there is no room for such childish actions if Russia takes such a step, it is not seen as a reliable trade partner at the global level and countries will not sign contracts with Russia

Even if Russia does all this, it will have to export gas to run its economy and the process of getting gas to its new buyers will not be easy it takes years to lay new gas pipelines if all these things are kept in mind, Russia will never do anything that is tantamount to kicking its own feet Yes, it is certain that Russia can create an artificial energy crisis in Europe for a short period of time It recently did so when European countries threatened Russia with sanctions after its invasion of Ukraine in return for which Russia cut gas supplies from the Nord Stream pipeline by 20 percent for 10 days and artificially created a crisis of gas After that, European countries started to race

Germany had to use its gas stored for the winter to meet the needs of its industry Now let's move on to our next question, whether European countries have alternatives for Russian gas?

Europe has limited options, but what can they be let's find out European countries should not sign new long-term gas contracts with Russia and find alternative partners from which to get gas, including Norway, Azerbaijan

But the problem with this is that laying new pipelines is a long process and will take decades, besides there is also regional geopolitics involved and it is not easy to lay pielines Secondly to buy LNG from USA and Qatar largest exporters after Russia But the problem with this is that LNG is imported in liquid form by ships, and it also has to go through regasification process to convert it into natural gas

Apart from this, LNG will be three times more expensive than the gas obtained from Russia its supply is also not continuous like gas obtained from pipes and there are issues of contracts as well Third alternative European countries have is nuclear energy but the problem is public sentiment and politics

However, this problem can be solved and Europe can reduce its dependence on Russian gas not complete but to some extant European countries can also go towards wind and solar energy to meet their energy needs

But the problem here is that there is no regular production of these sources of energy, besides, not every region and every place is favorable for such sources looking at all these things, it seems that European countries will continue to depend on Russia for gas in near future and Russia will not stop the full supply of gas to European countries but what would happen, time will tell us

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