Accusations that Russia uses energy as geopolitical weapon are baseless, Banca Intesa chair says

Russia is delivering more gas to Europe than specified under the existing contract, while the lion’s share of US liquified natural gas (LNG) promised by Washington is going to Asia, Antonio Fallico told RT.

“Extremely high prices for natural gas in Europe are the result of underestimated demand by the European Union with storage facilities remaining at record low levels of 60% to 65%, which contributed to rising gas costs,” according to the chairman of Banca Intesa Russia.

“Russia has delivered 15% more natural gas than it is obligated to under the current agreement. This also includes Ukraine’s pipeline network which saw a 10% boost in transmission,” Fallico told RT on the sidelines of the 14th Eurasian Economic Forum in Verona, Italy.

He added that out of the 28 billion cubic meters of gas agreed to with the US, only 7 billion cubic meters have been delivered to Europe, with the rest going to Asia.

“This is why accusations that Russia uses energy as a geopolitical weapon is not accurate. This rhetoric is baseless,” Fallico said.

He also said that despite the temporary nature of the situation, the gas crisis is part of a bigger structural problem, because the EU economy is not working as well as it should.

“The situation may become even more difficult if investment in the development of traditional energy is stopped or decreased and alternative energy fails to compensate for the deficit,” he warned, adding that any energy transition must be balanced.

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