Confindustria wants to reopen the taps from Moscow, but does not explain how

‘I won’t go into the issue of Russian gas versus non-Russian gas; that’s not within my remit. I believe that today we also need to tell the truth: that there can be no ideology when it comes to energy.’ These words by Confindustria president Emanuele Orsini, spoken on the sidelines of the Assolombarda assembly, have been interpreted as an openness to resuming gas purchases from Vladimir Putin. However, from his few words, the exact nature of the request is not entirely clear. The EU has long been pursuing a path towards energy independence from Moscow, having established a ban on LNG imports from 1 January 2027. At present, in fact, with storage levels low and below historical averages, and with this deadline approaching, LNG imports are rising and have reached record highs, with growth of around 10 per cent in the January–September period compared with the previous year. The situation is complicated by the war in the Middle East, which has destroyed production capacity in Qatar, one of Europe’s major LNG suppliers.

Replacing Russian gas from Yamal is therefore more complicated than had been imagined prior to the US-Iran conflict, and so consideration could also be given to postponing – as proposed by Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi – the entry into force of the ban. However, if the idea is to return to the pre-invasion of Ukraine world by reopening the valves on Putin’s gas pipelines, then we are on the wrong track. Of the four Russian gas pipelines, TurkStream is already operating at full capacity, whilst the other three are closed and their transit contracts have been suspended: to get gas to Italy via pipeline, as in the days some people long for, the consent of Germany (Nord Stream), Poland (Yamal) or Ukraine (the Ukrainian gas pipeline) is required. Orsini says that “there can be no ideology when it comes to energy”, but neither should there be demagoguery. It would therefore be useful, when making such provocative statements, to back them up with concrete proposals. Otherwise, given the shared name, there is a risk of confusing the president of Confindustria with the columnist for Il Fatto Quotidiano.