Grumbling European Businesses Get More Russian Natural Gas

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered state-owned energy giant Gazprom to increase natural gas supplies to Europe once Russia has filled up its own underground storage facilities, state media reported.

Photo Insert: Construction of the Nord Stream 2 has been completed but awaiting approval from German regulators.

Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller responded that gas flow to European storage sites could increase starting November 8, the TASS news agency reported.

Russian state media praised Putin as the savior of Europe, which is grappling with a sharp spike in energy prices after a pandemic-induced slump, with businesses demanding a long-term solution to the problem, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

It was a U-turn for the Kremlin leader, who has repeatedly pointed to gas deliveries made by Russia in excess of the contractually agreed quantities but had considered further steps to ease Europe's energy crunch difficult.

In view of record gas prices, Putin has repeatedly called for the rapid commissioning of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline, which, despite being complete is still awaiting approval by German regulators.

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