Italy is no longer dependent on Russian gas as an energy resource, Italian Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said in an interview on April 15.
"Previously, we used to obtain 40% of our gas needs from Russia, but today we only rely on them for a little over 10%. As a result, we have successfully reduced our dependence on Moscow," Pichetto Fratin told the newspaper Corriere della Sera.
According to Pichetto Fratin, Italy has been increasing its pipeline gas imports from the East using the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, as well as from Africa, through newly formed agreements with Algeria and Libya.
Italy is also looking to "increasingly develop the energy produced from renewable sources and to understand when it will be possible to implement fourth-generation nuclear power," Pichetto Fratin said.
Italy's Economic Minister Adolfo Urso said in an interview with the newspaper Il Messaggero on Feb. 13 that Italy had planned to stop being dependent on Russian gas entirely before the end of 2023.
Furthermore, a strategic partnership with Azerbaijan would ideally permit Italy to export energy to other countries by 2024 and become an "energy hub" in Europe, according to Urso.
Alexander Query
