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The uncertainty of the gas market through Russia is to supply 5.75bn cubic metres of in September Prime Minister Petr Fiala also
the summer led to market participants gas per year to Turkey via the TurkStream delivered an address to the nation in which he
focusing mainly on selling gas domestically. pipeline. called on his own cabinet, state organisations,
Kaasik said: “There were minimal sales in While Europe, faced with a severe companies as well as households to revise the
other countries. For Eesti Gaas it is the same. reduction in supplies of Russian gas widely use of energy.
At present we are clearly feeling a greater seen as a response by Moscow to European During his speech Fiala said that Czechia
responsibility for the Estonian consumer policy on the Ukraine war, strives to fill its gas is facing an economic war launched by Russia
than for the customer in Finland, Latvia or storage facilities ahead of winter, Turkey last whose aim is to “threaten social securities
Lithuania. We have almost never made supply week announced that its storage tanks were of Europeans, unsettle their economy,
offers elsewhere. The same is true elsewhere.” already full. undermine citizens’ faith in the state and in
“In other words, when the situation is democracy as such and to drive individual
good, the market works. But if problems arise, states of the European Union against each
the market may not guarantee things, then Czechia focuses on cutting gas other”.
it no longer matters who owns the gas, and Sikela and Fiala also continue to stress
so to speak, neither gas nor money have any consumption to ease energy the need for a European solution to the
‘nationality’. Well, if trouble is at hand, that’s ongoing energy crisis. “We need international
the case.” crisis cooperation, because we are not able to handle
At the Klaipeda terminal, the capacities this alone and we don’t have any painless
were mainly taken on by Lithuanian and Czech gas consumption during the first eight solution”, said Fiala.
Polish companies, he said, despite attempts to months of 2022 has fallen by 18 percent in Environmental NGOs continue to criticise
do so on the part of Estonia. comparison to the previous year and the Czechia for not doing enough to tap the
In order to be competitive in an LNG- consumption is now at its lowest since 2016, potential of renewable energy resources,
based gas market, access to an LNG terminal according to Minister of Industry and Trade which could yield results in a short term
is required, he concluded. Jozef Síkela. The cabinet is set to announce span of time, and for focusing on big nuclear
At the same time, the price of gas has more measures to help small and medium- investments which are at best a long-term
started to fall, Kaasik noted. “The price rose sized businesses cope with the energy crisis on solution to energy sovereignty and one with
steeply until the end of August, after that it October 5. a significant financial burden on the public
actually started to fall. I would like to believe “We also have some good news, and finances.
that Russia’s ‘natural gas war’ will peter out, the best one is that even though there is no
and the price will move towards normalcy. It Russian gas coming since September and
is still relatively far from that, but the trend we are speaking about the coldest second Gas starts flowing through new
at the moment is quite okay,” he said, ERR.ee half of September since 2018 we are still able
reported.. to cover daily consumption and fill in gas Norway-Poland Baltic Pipe
storage facilities”, Sikela told media at his press
conference on the state of Czech energy on Gas began flowing through the Baltic Pipe,
Turkey said to want Russia to October 3. the new gas link from Norway via Denmark
to Poland, Poland’s gas grid operator Gaz-
Síkela said gas storage facilities are more
permit delay on gas payments than 89 percent full, and that filling of System said on October 1.
Warsaw hopes the Baltic Pipe will ensure a
storage tanks should continue even without
Turkey, beset by an economic crisis marked Russian gas and without auctions, which were smooth transition away from Russian supplies
by difficulties such as a lack of international introduced to motivate traders to buy gas and halted in the wake of the war in Ukraine. The
reserves, has reported asked Russia for store it in gas storage facilities. pipeline is key to securing gas supplies to
permission to delay some payments for In September some 150mn cubic metres of Poland after the Russian gas giant Gazprom
Russian natural gas. gas was filled after Czechia was able to secure stopped deliveries in April in reaction to
Bloomberg reported the request on Ocober gas from Norway and overseas. Moreover, if Poland’s refusal to pay for gas in rubles.
3, citing people familiar with the matter. weather impact is taken into account, then the Requests for sending gas through the
State-run energy importer and pipeline gas consumption in September was down by pipeline on the first day of its operation came
company Botas wants some of the gas bill 28%. in at 62.4mn kilowatt-hours (kWh), Reuters
payments to be postponed until 2024, one Earlier this year Czechia rented out reported.
source was reported as saying. capacity in the Dutch LNG terminals through At full transmission capacity – which
Ankara already has an agreement with the country’s majority-state-owned energy is 10bn cubic metres (bcm) annually – the
Moscow that will allow it to pay for a quarter utility CEZ. Baltic Pipe is expected to supply Poland with
of the gas it receives from Russia in rubles In August Czech authorities also seized roughly the exact volume of gas that used to
instead of dollars. That corresponds with the unused gas capacities, some 242mn cubic be available from Russia before Gazprom’s
Kremlin’s dedollarisation policy. meters, at the most modern Damborice gas unilateral severing of its supply contract.
Turkey meets up to half of its natural storage facility operated by Moravian Gas This year, the Baltic Pipe is expected to
gas demand with deliveries from Russia. It Storage JV, part owned by Gazprom and part supply 5 bcm of gas. Poland says that it will
constantly, however, attempts to diversify by Czech MND of the Czech KKCG holding also find gas on the LNG market or via flows
the sources of its gas supplies, especially of companies. The facility was less than 40% from interlinked gas grids with Germany,
when bargains can be found. Only last week, full and no buyer was interested in purchasing Czechia, Slovakia, or Lithuania.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the free capacity. Warsaw also expects that it will cut gas
said Turkey would like to see more liquefied Sikela emphasised the importance of consumption to 17 bcm in 2022, down from
natural gas deliveries from the US. energy savings in coping with the energy crisis around 20 bcm in 2021.
Gazprom and Botas at the end of last year and the ministry lowered room temperature
signed a four-year agreement under which to 19-21 degrees at its premises. Moreover,

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