Switzerland announced a reduction in gas consumption in the country

ZURICH, 21 Sep — PRIME. Gas consumption in Switzerland has fallen by about 20% over the past two months, mainly due to rising energy prices, said Bastian Schwark, head of the energy department at the country’s Federal Office for National Economic Supply.

“Over the past two months, gas consumption in Switzerland has decreased by about 20 percent. The situation is similar in Germany. Companies have reacted to high gas prices,” Schwark said in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

He added that European countries are making a lot of efforts to create alternative fuel sources, but these measures will only compensate for part of the gas that usually passes through the Nord Stream gas pipeline.

Schwark also said that a shortage of gas in the country is more likely than a shortage of electricity, especially in the event of a cold winter.

“In addition to the Nord Stream gas pipeline, there is another pipeline that still transports Russian gas to the West through Ukraine. This pipeline is very important. It currently delivers as much gas as Nord Stream 1 at full capacity. If the pipeline through Ukraine, which runs through the center of the war zone, fails, Europe will have an even bigger problem,” the Swiss official added.

Swiss authorities have previously said that for the first time they could impose restrictions on energy consumption in the event of a shortage of electricity or gas.

After the start of the special operation in Ukraine, the West stepped up sanctions pressure on Russia, which led to an increase in prices for electricity, fuel and food in Europe and the United States. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the policy of containment and weakening of Russia is a long-term strategy of the West, and the sanctions dealt a serious blow to the entire global economy. According to him, the main goal of the West is to worsen the lives of millions of people.