Italy will struggle to stay warm this winter if Russia’s conflict with Ukraine disrupts gas supplies and Libya veers toward collapse. Either or both of those scenarios will put at risk an already shaky economic recovery following years of recession and sluggish growth.
Caught between dwindling gas imports from North Africa and a rising dependency on Russia, Italy’s contingency plans for a complete breakdown in Ukrainian transit flows consist of raiding stockpiles, arranging costly emergency shipments, as well as forcing heavy industry to cut its output.
Import-reliant Italy uses gas to fuel almost half its power plants, triggering fears the conflict between …read more
Source: Voice of America
