Sweden compensates the population for rising gas costs, for which it blames Russia

Sweden will allocate 6 billion crowns ($664 million) for energy subsidies to households. The fact that they were needed in the country is blamed, including Russia, writes Bloomberg.

“Shvedsky consumers should not suffer [from the energy crisis] due, among other things, to the behavior of Russia in the European gas market,” the agency quotes Swedish Energy Minister Hoshyar Farmanban. “We are in an exceptional situation.”

As a result of rising gas prices, wholesale prices for electricity, which is mainly used to heat homes in the populated south of the country, have almost quintupled. The government will provide subsidies up to 6,000 kroons to approximately 1.8 million households whose monthly consumption exceeds 2,000 kilowatt-hours.

• Today, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol , said that Russia is holding gas supplies to Europe in a geopolitical context, and could increase them by a third.
• Also on Wednesday, January 12, were held Russia-NATO talks on security guarantees . They ended without any breakthroughs.