Rome, 23 June 2022 – Government move in three stages against expensive prices and the expensive-energy: immediately a decree-law of 3.27 billion, passed yesterday, to extend for the third quarter the measures intended to lighten the electricity and gas bills and offer financial guarantees until the end of the year to companies that have to store gas for winter, but they struggle to pay for it at the crazy prices of the market. The renewal of the interventions for the cut of 35 cents in excise duties on fuels (due to expire on July 8), by July – as announced by the Minister of Labor, Andrea Orlando – an operation for a scissor cut to the tax wedge that leads in the pockets of the workers, for the autumn, at least another 200 euros more. All this while a total shutdown of Russian taps is not a hypothesis to be excluded for the director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol: “Europe – he told the Financial Times – should be ready in case gas Russian is completely cut. ” A hypothesis that sees Eni’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi, more skeptical, who explained that Russian supplies have been cut by 50%, but have now stabilized at 32-33 million cubic meters a day. Moscow gave us half the gas – he pointed out – and earned the same figures, as the price went up by 50%. “If they were to completely stop supplies – concluded the manager – it would mean completely losing all income”.
Lamp posts turned off in the cities. And energy cuts in companies
In BrusselsHowever, the crux is different: it is belly to earth on the gas price cup that will be at the center of the next European Council. An idea supported by Italy, and which is gradually convincing also Germany and the Nordic countries. But it will not be short-lived: a final decision will not be made until September or October. The pressing of our country is also explained by the continuous and accelerated escalation of the price: methane on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange closed at 127 euros per megawatt hour, even if for now in Italy the daily supply exceeds the demand and there is margin to replenish reserves. A front, that of storage, which was also at the center of the meeting between Minister Roberto Cingolani and the top management of energy companies (Eni and Enel in the lead). A summit that was followed up in the council of ministers with the launch of the new aid decree. The measure allocates over 2 billion euros to eliminate system charges on electricity bills. For gas bills, € 481 million is envisaged to cut VAT, € 470 million to eliminate system charges and € 240 million for brackets up to 5,000 cubic meters per year. The new decree extends the taxation on the extra-profits of energy companies that import gas from 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2023. However, the financial guarantee of Sace (the public credit insurance company) is extended to storage companies until 31 December, already provided for by the Aid for companies damaged by the war in Ukraine and by the sanctions against Russia .
Draghi: our dependence on Russian gas reduced as early as 2023