Expert Belova: Bureaucracy can kill the effectiveness of EU common gas purchasing mechanism

MOSCOW, March 11 – RIA Novosti. The energy platform for joint gas purchases planned to be launched in the European Union (EU) would be able to work if spot shipments of “blue fuel” were purchased, and then the bureaucracy would “kill all efficiency”, Maria Belova said.

Citing European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that the EU plans to launch a platform for joint gas purchases in April to lower energy prices. He noted that more than 50 businesses from all over the world are interested in cooperating with the EU through the platform. He says the main advantage for small and medium-sized companies is to open up a “big market”: Otherwise, they won’t be able to buy some of their liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo or tie up with a large energy company. .

“The launch of a platform for joint gas purchases, or indeed the creation of a single purchasing body from the EU, is another non-market regulatory mechanism. If you buy spot gas lots it might work, and then the bureaucracy can kill all efficiency,” Belova thinks.

According to the agency’s interlocutor, the launch of the platform will basically mean new negotiations with existing gas suppliers, most of which have long-term contracts, clear pricing formulas and other terms stipulated by the agreements. “It’s not clear at all that exporters will renegotiate current conditions,” says an analyst at Vygon Consulting.

As Bloomberg reports, the EU will open registration on the energy platform for companies interested in buying gas on March 15. First contracts with suppliers from the US to the Middle East and Africa are expected in June, and after the first tender, the EU will regularly hold joint purchases to ensure the union has enough gas. It would be impossible to purchase Russian gas with the proposed mechanism.