OREANDA-NEWS. Gazprom is fulfilling its obligations to the EU on fuel supplies, said Frans Timmermans, executive deputy chairman of the European Commission.

"The demand is huge all over the world. In China, this is also a big problem, while Russia is trying to supply gas there in the maximum quantity. But we have no reason to believe that Russia is manipulating the market in any way," he said in an interview with the Bulgarian bTV channel.

According to Timmermans, there is a "perfect storm" in the gas market due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the overall development of the economy. At the same time, he stressed that this situation is not new, and 25 years ago the cost of natural gas was even higher. The politician said that the EU expects prices to fall early next year.

Timmermans also touched upon the topic of Nord Stream 2. In his opinion, the decision to issue a license to operate the pipeline is exclusively in the jurisdiction of Germany.

The gas market has been in a fever for several months: if at the beginning of August securities for the supply of fuel were traded at $ 515, then by the end of September they more than doubled, and this week the stock exchange recorded a historical maximum - $ 1937 per thousand cubic meters. Then a pullback followed - prices fell by almost half, below a thousand dollars.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that Moscow has always been a reliable gas supplier for consumers in Europe and Asia. He stressed that the country fully fulfills its obligations.