ATHENS – After giving assurances there wouldn’t be any problems obtaining energy this winter despite the effect of Russian’s invasion on Ukraine hurting supply claims, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called an emergency meeting about gas disruptions and soaring prices.

While the European Union exempted Russian energy from sanctions over the war, Russian energy company Gazprom indicated it wouldn’t quickly restore the flow to full capacity through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Western Europe, said Kathimerini and media reports.

The state-owned gas company cited technical problems involving a piece of equipment that German partner Siemens Energy sent to Canada for overhaul and couldn’t be returned because of the EU sanctions.

While Russia desperately needs the energy money from the EU which depends on supplies from there for up to 40 percent of its needs – including Greece – there will be problems with supplies during the winter.

Greece had already turned to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG,) gas from Azerbaijan through Bulgaria, returning to coal-fired plants and trying to accelerate sustainable alternatives including wind and solar but it would take years to meet its needs.

(Material from the Associated Press was used in this report)