Supplies have been reduced to Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Italy, European Commission spokeswoman Marlene Holzner told reporters in Brussels today, according to Bloomberg. She cited a 30 percent drop to Austria, a 24 percent reduction to Italy and an 8 percent decline to Poland. Holzner didn’t elaborate on the decreases for other affected EU nations.
Natural-gas storage facilities across the EU are full and the situation doesn’t qualify as a “state of emergency” because the affected countries have been able to use natural gas from elsewhere, Holzner said.
The Gas Coordination Group, which brings together EU and gas-industry representatives, has been alerted to the situation and commission is in contact with Russia about the drop in supplies, Holzner said.
“The contracts that Russia has apparently allow for a certain flexibility in case they also need the gas, and that’s the situation that Russia’s facing at the moment,” she said.
