Probe Into Gazprom Over Gas Price Hike Proves EU Sanctions 'Faulty' - Italian Politician

ST. PETERSBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th September, 2021) The European Parliament's appeal to the European Commission for an investigation into the role of Russia's Gazprom in the gas price surge has proven that the bloc's anti-Russian policies are counterproductive and mainly hurt the EU market, a parliamentarian from Italy's Veneto province, Stefano Valdegamberi, told Sputnik.

"In response to the appeal of European parliamentarians against Russia I would like to say that the latest gas price hike and the collapse of agro-food exports are the results of faulty European decisions and sanctions," Valdegamberi said.

He noted that the appeal for the probe was "useless and biased", as it was the European Union that had been continuously renewing sanctions against Russia for "non-existent issues such as the never-occurring invasion of Crimea," which, according to the parliamentarian, "only led to a boomerang effect on the EU economy."

Russia banned agricultural imports from the EU in 2014 in retaliation for Western sanctions and started building its own food supply chain based on domestic alternatives to European dairy products, fruits, vegetables and meat, Valdegamberi said.

"Thanks to our sanctions, Russia may not achieve self-sufficiency, but its food dependence will certainly decrease. In general, made-in-Italy agricultural exports to Russia have lost billions of Euros in the last seven years. Is it the fault of the Russians or the fault of Europe's absurd policies?" he remarked.

Concerning the Crimean issue, which prompted the escalation of confrontation between the EU and Russia and became the starting point for the sanctions regime, Valdegamberi urged Europe to respect the will of the people living in the region and not to deny them their fundamental human rights.

Following the European Parliament's appeal for a Gazprom probe, the Kremlin said that the gas price surge in Europe can be explained by the nature of the spot market, while Gazprom remains the most reliable guarantor of supplies.