Dear bills, "that's why it's not just Russia's fault"

“In the meantime, let's say that there is no shortage of gas. The maximum quantities of recent months are arriving from Russia. So the problem is mainly linked to the speculation that has recently arisen. If we look at the gas that is traded, that is, sold and bought on the financial markets, we realize that the trading volume has increased fourfold since January. There are therefore investment funds that are 'doping' the price of gas. This takes a toll on our bills and puts our entire industry in trouble. The competitors of our companies in the United States pay ten times less for gas than in Italy. It is therefore difficult to be competitive also on an industrial level ".

Can the interventions to contain the price of energy announced by the government serve any purpose?

“They are palliative. It is proposed to cut VAT or to remove some excise duties, except that the coverage of Italian finances is very short. It is cut on one side only to have to add it on another. I take off VAT and excise duties, increase the public debt and in the end I have to raise taxes. A solution could be found at the European level ”.

What kind?

“By introducing a cap on the price of gas. In this way, the weapons of speculators are drawn and probably also a reduction in the prices of raw materials is obtained. However, we have the resistance of the countries of northern Europe, which are gas producers and with high prices earn a lot in marketing ".

Could this moment of difficulty on the energy front lead us to review our energy strategy?

“An energy plan had to be done thirty years ago and planned for the long term. Now the risk is to prepare a change on the wave of emotion, of contingent problems. Of course, some initiatives could serve as an increase in regasification terminals or to double the TAP, the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline that crosses Greece and Albania from the Greek-Turkish border to land in Puglia. However, remember that it is not easy to build infrastructure in Italy. For the TAP there were protests and demonstrations because it was necessary to eliminate the expanses of olive trees to get it through ”.

In short, the energy question is certainly not a simple and easy solution to what he tells us ...

“The basic problem is that there shouldn't be a modern country that depends on another nation for 40 percent of its energy needs. Instead it exists and it is Italy. It is wrong from a geopolitical and strategic point of view. If what we live today becomes an opportunity to change this situation, so be it. For example, the European Union should be pushed to review the aims of the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience in favor of the energy sector. In general, the European Union should act to make itself as independent as possible with regard to energy supplies. If the EU does not do it, Italy must have the courage to do so, perhaps compacting itself with those nations like Spain and Greece that have the same problems and the same needs. The goal must be to limit dependence on the outside as much as possible, but we must do it wisely, knowing that we are not in a phase of economic crisis. We are in the midst of a war and the repercussions are those of a war economy. Without important actions we risk a lot such as quality of life and well-being. If, on the other hand, we act wisely in two years, something significant can be done to review our energy paradigm ”.

What could be done for example?

“First of all, accepting that doing away with Russia entirely in the short term is madness. However, its importance can be reduced by building new pipelines that bring, for example, gas from the mega-fields in Egypt to Europe. Of course these are massive infrastructural works, which have costs. But if we are at war, things must and can be done quickly, without bureaucratic or other constraints. In two and a half years, a gas pipeline from Siberia to Germany was built… so it is not an impossible undertaking to bring Egyptian gas to Italy within an acceptable time frame ”.