Mitsotakis: “ceiling” prices should be set not only for gas from Russia

ATHENS, 11 Sep — PRIME. The price ceiling should be set for all natural gas purchased by the EU countries, and not just for Russian, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at a press conference in Thessaloniki.

“Natural gas prices are ten times higher than they were two years ago. We have made two interventions in this regard – we are increasing heating assistance by 300 million euros, and we can reduce the price of diesel fuel in the first phase for heating and thus encourage households to switch home heating from natural gas to diesel fuel. But there will also be a subsidy for natural gas prices. The price for the end consumer cannot be the same as it is now,” Mitsotakis said.

“There will be a generous subsidy on natural gas prices,” he said.

According to him, the price of gas today has nothing to do with the price on the stock exchange. “Greece was one of the first countries to propose to the European Union to introduce a common ceiling on natural gas imports. Not only on Russian natural gas. A ceiling on the index on the TTF exchange, and not only on imported Russian natural gas. We do not know if such a proposal will be accepted. But there is a broad agreement on taxing the excess profits of companies,” Mitsotakis said.

He hopes that all countries will take windfall profits from gas traders.

He also said that electricity in Greece is one of the cheapest in Europe, although prices have risen significantly. Mitsotakis said the government is considering a way to support electricity prices and give citizens an incentive to save energy. In any case, every Greek household, regardless of consumption, will receive substantial support, he assured.

According to him, the winter will be difficult. “We have done everything possible to ensure that Greece has enough energy for the coming winter,” Mitsotakis said.

“This also applies to natural gas, in the event of a complete shutdown of supplies from the Turkish Stream. We have secured several cargoes of LNG, we have doubled the capacity of LNG storage tanks at the Revetusa station, and are promoting initiatives to reduce natural gas consumption and increase the production of electricity from lignite,” – he said.

He added that all Greek consumers will receive support from the government.

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has previously stated the need to introduce a price ceiling for Russian gas. At the end of August, she also announced that the European Commission is working on operational and longer-term measures to improve the situation against the backdrop of rising electricity prices in the EU, which mainly depend on the cost of blue fuel.

Later, Russian President Vladimir Putin, commenting on the West’s idea to limit prices for Russian energy resources, said that Russia would not supply anything abroad if it would be contrary to its own interests.