Russia has always been a reliable supplier of gas to Europe, has made and is making its significant contribution to the energy security of Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday before talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
MESEBERG (Germany) (Pakistan Point news / Sputnik - 18th August, 2018) Russia has always been a reliable supplier of gas to Europe, has made and is making its significant contribution to the energy security of Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday before talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"June marked the 50th anniversary since the beginning of gas supplies from the Soviet Union to Western Europe. Over the whole period, our country has been reliably providing uninterrupted energy supplies, has made and is making a significant contribution to the energy security of the entire European continent," Putin said.
Energy is one of the priority areas of cooperation between Russia and Germany, the consumption of Russian gas is constantly increasing, it grew by 13 percent year-on-year since the beginning of 2018, the Russian leader noted.
One of the priority areas [for cooperation] is energy. It is well known, Germany is the largest buyer of Russian energy resources. In 2017 alone, we supplied 53.8 billion cubic meters of gas ... Consumption of Russian gas is constantly growing and this year, it increased by 13 percent," Putin said.
He added that these volumes covered more than 30 percent of the German market.
According to Gazprom data, Russia's gas supplies to Germany in the period from January 1 to June 15 grew by 13.2 percent year-on-year, or by 3.2 billion cubic meters as compared to the same period in 2017. At the same time, Gazprom's total gas exports to non-CIS countries increased by 5.6 percent, or by 5 billion cubic meters, to 93.6 billion cubic meters.
