Spain commented on the introduction of the EU price ceiling for Russian gas

MOSCOW, 6 Sep — PRIME. The European Union may take a set of measures on gas, which, among other things, will affect tariffs for it, Teresa Ribera, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Ecological Transition of Spain, said in an interview with the Expansión newspaper.

“It will not be one, but a whole range of measures affecting a number of issues, such as gas tariffs, emission quotas and interconnections,” she said, commenting on the EU’s intention to impose price caps on Russian gas.

“These measures must be flexible,” Ribera said, recalling that this is exactly what Spain achieved in July, when Brussels developed a pan-European plan to save gas during the winter.

She noted that the energy ministers of the EU countries will discuss the gas issue until Friday.

Earlier, the press secretary of the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade, which currently chairs the EU, Vojtech Srnka told RIA Novosti that the EU ministers in charge of energy issues will hold an extraordinary meeting on Friday, September 9 in Brussels, where they will discuss the situation with energy resources in Europe.

Discussions are reportedly underway as to whether to set a price range or maximum price for the purchase of gas delivered by pipeline and ships.

The Spanish vice-premier also noted that she would offer to start a dialogue with traders and other gas suppliers, in addition to Russia, “in order to balance the power that Russia has so far had as the main supplier of gas for all of Europe.”

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 EC 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”.