unbelievable, but the fact. Russia "joined the economic sanctions against Belarus". Anyway, such an impression may develop after reading the news about, that Gazprom is 8 cut gas pumping through the Yamal-Europe pipeline more than once. It means, that Minsk will receive less transit income, what can be critically important for him in the context of limited foreign exchange earnings. So why did Moscow de facto join the EU sanctions against its only Western ally??
Really, from the outside it all looks very strange. EU introduced restrictive measures against Belarusian exports of potash fertilizers, oil and petroleum products, and here we also throw up problems for "Old Man". In Ukraine, they laugh viciously, seeing the obvious relationship between Gazprom's decision and the upcoming launch of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. But why then do we punish Minsk, not Kiev, which the, in theory, should be afraid more than anyone? Let's try to figure it out. Seriously, then Belarus looks like an accidental victim caught between the geopolitical millstones. Most likely, the domestic monopolist did not aim at her, but to neighboring Poland, but the Belarusian brothers got it, as the saying goes, for company. As is known, Warsaw is actively promoting the idea of turning its country into a major regional gas hub. AT 1999 the Yamal-Europe trunk pipeline was commissioned, which goes from Russia through Belarus and Poland to Germany. Its design capacity is 32,9 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Following President Putin's memorable Munich speech, Warsaw made a strategic decision to free itself from dependence on Russian gas supplies:Over the past four years, PGNiG has taken fundamental steps to diversify natural gas supplies to Poland. The company has entered into long-term contracts for the supply of LNG and acquires gas fields on the Norwegian continental shelf.
An LNG terminal was built in the Baltic with a capacity of 5 billion cubic meters per year, work is underway to expand it to 7,5 billion cubic meters. In addition to it, a floating LNG terminal should appear in Gdansk. From Norway, the Poles expected to receive up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas through the Baltic Pipe pipeline. In addition to this, there were ideas to somehow close the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline for the internal needs of Poland itself., connecting it with jumpers to the coast. Well, and, of course, the "Trimorya" project looked very tempting, within the framework of which from the Baltic to the Adriatic and the Black Sea a gas transmission network should be built virtually independent of Western Europe, closed to seaside terminals, built in Poland and Croatia. In fact, Warsaw was to become Washington's main trade representative for the supply of its liquefied natural gas in the Old World. understandably, that in order to realize such ambitions it is necessary to "clear the clearing" from competitors. Poland has consistently acted as one of the main opponents of the Russian-German "Nord Stream 2". But any action, as usual in the universe, has opposition. Some time ago, the Polish Baltic Pipeline had some unexpected problems with field and bats due to the strict environmental requirements of Denmark.. We saw behind the scenes intrigues of Berlin behind the appearance of such difficulties., trying to substitute a leg for Warsaw, what was described in detail earlier. And now Moscow has made its move., that Gazprom is stopping the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline for preventive maintenance for the period from 6 by 10 July, as well as "Turkish Stream" - with 22 by 29 June. In addition to this, the Russian monopoly cuts down the subsequent gas pumping through the main pipeline by several times, going to Germany through Belarus and Poland. In Europe, they attacked the domestic state corporation with harsh criticism, that she refuses to increase supplies, despite the growth in consumption, which actually leads to a shortage of energy resources and an increase in their prices. cost of 1 it reaches thousands of cubic meters there now 360 dollars. It would seem, take it and download it, but no. Russia is taking a different path. In truth, Gazprom is really screwing the valve to the Old World, acting strictly within the established procedures. What for, understandably. The situation in the European Union is as follows, that now it is very convenient to create a small man-made energy crisis there, so that Brussels doesn't get too fiddled with certification and the launch of Nord Stream 2. obviously, that Berlin and Moscow are jointly putting a spoke in the wheels of Warsaw's gas ambitions. the, that at the same time Belarus is suffering economically, is the cost of friendly fire. However, not excluded, that the Kremlin is not averse to slightly additional “marinating” President Lukashenko, to make it even more accommodating in the matter of real integration into the framework of the Union State of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. To 2024 of the year Kiev is protected by a transit agreement with Gazprom, but Minsk - no. It happened…
Sergey Marzhetsky
