“Russian gas, we are stocking up. We need a Son of energy” – Economy

“We would need a Son of energy because the gas stocks we have been setting aside in recent weeks may not be enough”. This is the proposal of Carlo Andrea Bollino, economist of Luiss. Professor, exports of Russian gas to Italy recorded a sharp increase in May. Shouldn’t we have limited business with Moscow? “Obviously, our stockpiles are practically empty. So someone thought that the priority was to secure the country.” Does Putin’s threat to turn off the taps affect this dynamic? “We are likely to try to buy as much gas as possible before it is too late. We have already seen what the risks are.” What are you referring to? “In January 2006 Putin closed the pipes that carry gas to Ukraine because Kiev did not pay. The crisis involved us: those gas pipelines, in fact, also serve Italy. The government had hands in their hair, the Minister of Industry in 48 hours prepared a plan to reopen the coal plants. Then Ukraine paid and the emergency was resolved in a week “. It was time to start diversifying energy sources even then. “I would not like to quote myself, but in 2007 I proposed to build new regasifiers. Japan, the third largest industrial power on the planet, runs 100% on liquefied gas”. They did not listen to it and today we depend for 40% of our needs on Putin, with whom, however, we are at loggerheads. Shouldn’t we limit purchases from Moscow? “The gas must be stored in the warm season to be used in the winter. So if we don’t move now in January we will run dry and the industry will stop.” Are we doing enough to avoid it? “Generally, Italy behaves like this: in the various periods of the year it buys the same quantity of gas, and stores the surplus underground that is not used in the summer in order to have it available …