Europe prepares for a winter without Russian gas

GBNEWS24DESK//

Europeans are preparing for a difficult winter without gas supplies from Russia, part of the fallout from the war in Ukraine, reports AFP.

Latvians have been adjusting since the end of July, when Russia stopped supplying gas to the Baltic former Soviet state.

They know what to expect in the coming months.

“Energy prices are so exorbitant that we already cut off the hot water from the city pipeline and installed our own hot water boiler,” said Juons Ratiniks, who lives in the city of Rezekne, near the Russian border.

“It is cheaper to use it when we actually need it than pay for constantly heated hot water,” supplied centrally, the retired border guard explained.

Politicians need to understand that people expected help when their energy bill started shooting up, said Mr Ratiniks.

With elections due in October, he warned, “they better support heating for us, otherwise we’ll give heat to them!”

Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Poland have also already had their gas cut, while other countries have seen their supply reduced drastically.