Putin warned of rising gas prices in Europe due to exchange pricing

NEW DELHI, September 11 - RIA Novosti. Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking about gas prices in Europe, recalled that Europeans at one time believed that gas prices should be determined on the stock exchange; the Russian leader commented on this situation with the catchphrase - “Well, please shave.”

The head of state arrived in India on Friday for a three-day working visit. After participating in events on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in New Delhi, he spoke with media representatives. During his speech, he said that now in European countries the most pressing issue in the economy is the issue of energy. Russia has repeatedly spoken about the need to maintain existing relations in the energy sector.

“We supplied the same gas to Europe for 150 dollars, well, 180 per thousand cubic meters. It’s expensive, we were told, we need to switch to market pricing. What is market pricing? Our prices were tied, and now under a long-term contract we sell in relation to the cost of oil and petroleum products, which are formed by the market,” Putin explained.

“No. Prices must be formed, formed on the stock exchange. We told them: gas is not a market product, at least not a classic market product, nothing will work out, your prices will only rise. Well, come on, shave. A thousand dollars or euros now. And maybe there will be even more,” the president emphasized.

He clarified that gas prices in Europe on the stock exchange are determined not by production workers, but by stockbrokers. These people do not think about the technical condition of storage facilities and physical volumes. They think that it will be more profitable to lift gas from storage, which was purchased at lower prices, ignoring tomorrow. This will lead to the fact that gas will cost not a thousand, but 1.5 thousand dollars.