EU Demand for Russian Gas Likely to Grow in Long Term – Russian Envoy

The European Union’s demand for the Russian gas is likely to grow in future, Russian Ambassador to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov told Sputnik in an interview.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko — The Nord Stream-2 project that seeks to deliver gas from Russia to Europe bypassing Ukraine and Poland has raised concerns from a number of EU states and the European Commission.

"I believe that in the long term the need for natural gas in Europe will only be growing. Actually the overall supply of natural gas by Russia through Gazprom to EU member states has increased. Last year there was an increase in comparison to 2014 in spite of all the political rumblings and campaigns against it," Chizhov said in English.

The Nord Stream-2 project aims to deliver 55 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas a year to Europe across the Baltic Sea. In September, Russian energy giant Gazprom and its European partner companies — E.On, Shell, OMV, BASF and Engie — signed a shareholders agreement on the project.

The project has been met with opposition from some EU member states, including Poland and the Baltic countries, over fears it would increase European energy dependence on Russia. At the same time, Berlin reaffirmed its interest in the project, saying that it would bring more benefits for EU members and provide energy safety and security to the 28-nation bloc.