Gazprom is trying to supply more and more gas to China

Berlin, Dusseldorf The Russian energy company Gazprom emphasizes it at every opportunity: Gas exports from Russia to China are increasing. The most recent reason was the gas export figures for the months of January to September 2022, which Gazprom published on Thursday. On September 10, the daily pipeline export volume to China hit a new record, it said.

Such messages are intended to send a signal to the West: Russia no longer needs Europe. While countries like Germany have suffered greatly from Putin’s turning off the gas tap, Gazprom suggests that Russia has alternative gas buyers. One is not dependent on the EU countries as customers.

But Russia is deeply dependent. First, Russia was dependent on exports to the West – and is now becoming increasingly dependent on China. The Russian dream, on the other hand, of being able to play the EU and China off against each other as competing gas customers, has so far been little more than that – a dream.