German Gazprom gas storage facilities are increasingly emptying

The increase in delivery volumes to Germany announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of October cannot yet be read from the fill level of Gazprom gas storage facilities. The German memory of the company Astora, a subsidiary of the Russian state group Gazprom, was only filled to around 18 percent on Wednesday. Gazprom announced on November 9th that it had started feeding gas into five European underground facilities. On November 8th, according to an overview of the European storage companies, the German Gazprom storage facilities were still 22 percent full. The "Spiegel" had previously reported. When asked by the news magazine, Astora explains that as an operator of gas storage facilities, "due to legal requirements, there is no influence on customer behavior and fill levels". Critics had repeatedly accused Gazprom of not responding to the increased European demand. It was suspected that the Russian side wanted to force the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline into operation quickly. Moscow denied such allegations. Rather, Russia accuses the EU of neglecting to refill its gas storage facilities in time after the last cold winter. According to the comparison portal Check24, the wholesale prices for gas are currently at a record level. According to this, a megawatt hour of natural gas last cost a good 81 euros, a year ago it was just under 14 euros. According to the comparison portal Verivox, gas prices for consumers have also reached a record level. The Russian state agency Tass reported that Gazprom continues to deliver through the various lines.