Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy Manlio Di Stefano stated the need to reduce dependence on Russian gas at the expense of Azerbaijan, Algeria and Turkmenistan. He said about this in an interview with the newspaper La Repubblica.
as in the rest of Europe, we have a problem of dependence on a narrow circle of sources, mainly from Russia. At the beginning of the year, Moscow almost doubled the gas flows intended for us on the Ukrainian route, “said the Italian diplomat, whose words said RIA Novosti leads.
According to Di Stephano, this situation threatens security and requires urgent measures: “We must think about the medium and long term, about renewable energy sources, but we cannot ignore the short-term perspective and work with the most reliable partners.”
According to the deputy minister, Algeria is such a partner, and a transadriatic gas pipeline (TAP) is important for diversifying sources, which are supplied by the supply of Azerbaijani gas. Thanks to him, he noted Di Stefano, it was possible to restrain a little to keep the increase in energy prices for the population.
Di Stefano confirmed that Italy is counting on an increase in TAP power up to 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
“Another promising direction is Turkmenistan, which could connect to the TAP pipeline in the Caspian Sea,” said Di Stephano. At the same time, he stressed that the Caspian Sea enters the “Russian influence zone”, and the construction of the gas pipeline on its bottom “does not depend on us.”
“But Turkmenistan has one of the largest deposits in the world, and we like Europe should play this game, including because India and China will increase the level of consumption: if we do not supply ourselves resources today, we risks to get More and more complex winters, “said Di Stephano.