Contradicting promises by German politicians

Contradicting promises by German politicians, Russian Energy minister Alexander Novak tells Moscow’s Kommersant newspaper that Gazprom is capable of “fulfilling its long-term [gas] contracts, even if the gas transit contract won’t be signed [between Ukraine and Russia].” In reality, Nord Stream 2, with a design capacity of 55 billion cubic meters, cannot replace Ukraine, which last year moved 94 bcm of Russian gas to Europe. Russian pipelines advancing through Turkey are years from reaching such key markets as Austria and Hungary. The EU is pressuring Russia and Ukraine to negotiate a new gas transit contract to replace the one that expires one year from now, on Dec. 31, 2019.