But today, not only poor Indians have to endure this summer, but wealthy Europeans also have to face the energy crisis. Not only are summer difficult, but winter is also very difficult. Today, the German government often sends some warnings to the people, such as not taking a hot

In the last episode, we talked to you about the issue of India's electricity supply. Due to the depreciation of the rupee, the soaring international energy prices and the long-term unsolved debt problems, India's electricity supply has encountered great trouble today and has frequent power outages. Therefore, in this hot summer, Indian people may not enjoy the cool breeze blowing from the air conditioner.

But today, not only poor Indians have to endure this summer, but wealthy Europeans also have to face the energy crisis. Not only summer is difficult, but winter is also very difficult. Today, the German government often sends some warnings to the people, such as not taking a hot bath every day when taking a bath, just take it once a week, and the faster the bath, the better.

Even some local governments have issued such a call, let’s have the fastest bath competition to see who can take a bath with the shortest time and consume the least water flow. Some experts say that taking a bath every day is OK, but you just need to wash 4 key parts, and there is no need to wash each skin once.

To be honest, the protective layer on your skin will be gone and the oil will be gone. It is not a good thing for the skin. Some experts told the Germans that winter will be coming soon. If the heating at home is not warm enough, you can wear an extra sweater. The whole of Europe seems to be discussing how to save energy and reduce emissions and reduce energy use.

Of course, this time it is not for environmental protection. This time, the energy supply is really serious inadequate. It must be prepared. Indians who have no money cannot afford coal and cannot send electricity. We understand that, but how can Europeans who have always been wealthy face such a dilemma? The reason is very simple, because they encountered insufficient energy supply. Of course, the reason is well-known, which is the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war Black Swan on the entire Europe.

And this time I think Russia has played another beautiful card, and it is possible to win the lead again. A few months ago, after the Russian-Ukrainian war started, the Western world began to impose crazy sanctions on Russia. Russia, who was forced into a corner, suddenly took out a trump card of the ruble settlement order. Under the influence of this trump card, Russia's economy not only did not collapse, but the inflation of is getting smaller and smaller, the currency value of Russian ruble is getting higher and higher, and the fiscal revenue of the Russian central government is getting more and more.

You mentioned tens of thousands of economic sanctions are useless. Putin is enough to reverse the defeat. Today I think Putin has made another trick on energy issues. What's going on? We all know that the demand for Russian energy in the whole of Europe has been very large for a long time. In a year, a German company imported more than 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia. This is the annual supply of Nord Stream 2 .

However, even though it is so dependent on Russian energy, European countries have made various resolutions today. Not buying Russian oil or Russian natural gas is to make Russia die of economic difficulties.

But we all know that hard currency such as oil and natural gas can be sold everywhere. On the contrary, Europe cannot buy enough energy and will endure hunger and freeze. So Putin cleverly took advantage of this opportunity. Didn’t European countries not want to buy my natural gas? Then I won’t sell it to you. It turned out that my rule was that if you want to buy my natural gas, you must use rubles to buy my oil. Now European countries have long handed over rubles to buy natural gas.

Next, Putin used another move, that my gas pipeline needs maintenance. On July 11, Russia announced that Nord Stream 1 will undergo annual maintenance, which will take 10 days of maintenance. The pipeline is closed within these 10 days, and no trace of gas can be transmitted, so Germany is nervous.

is not a big problem to be closed for several days, because Germany still has a large amount of storage, which does not mean that one must have luck every day. However, the Germans are very worried about a problem now. Is it possible for Russia to take this opportunity to completely shut down Nord Stream 1 and never get angry again? What if this happens, what should the German economy do?

German economists even said that this would lead to the destruction of the entire Germany. On July 21, Russia said that we had completed the maintenance and could restore the gas supply. Germany breathed a sigh of relief. However, the next day, Russia announced that during this maintenance, we found that an turbine, , was broken, which did not affect the gas supply, but the amount of gas supply had to be reduced.

Everyone knows that a turbine had broken before, which made the gas supply of Beixi No. 1 only 40% of the original one. This turbine was sent to Canada for maintenance and has not been returned yet. At first, Canada also said that we would impose sanctions on Russia and we could not transport such high-end equipment to it. Russia said it was great. If you don’t transport Nord Stream 1 to me, you can only supply 40% of the gas.

panicked Germans coordinated from it, and Canada finally spit out that they could transport the machine back, but so far, the turbine has not been shipped back, and the next one has not been shipped back, which makes the gas supply of Beixi No. 1 only reach one-fifth of the designed production capacity, 20%.

Russia is using this soft knife to grind meat. The supply of 20% of the gas every day makes Germany still have some air, so it will not die in an instant, but it will also prevent you from storing enough natural gas. If you don’t use other methods to solve this problem, the German people can only wear thick sweaters every day without taking a hot bath and wearing a thick sweater to endure hunger and freeze.

To be honest, the German people lived a miserable life last winter, and it is very likely that this winter is even worse, but Putin left a hand, why should we lower the gas supply of Nord Stream 1? Because Russia said that this is definitely a technical reason, not that we don’t want to sell you.

But this pipeline is not smooth, but Russia has left another hand, that is, why not just open up Nord Stream 2. Nord Stream 1, which was built and put into production in 2011, connects Germany and Russia more closely. Germany buys a large amount of natural gas from Russia every year. To be honest, it costs a lot of money to build such an underwater channel. Why do you need to build such a channel?

Because Russia has taken into account the existing land routes in the past to cross Poland , Ukraine and a large number of other countries, these countries are all unstable factors. Think about Ukraine, Poland, which country has a good relationship with Russia?

In the past, Russia had to ask these countries to sell natural gas to these countries at very cheap prices every year in exchange for people's consent to the pipeline to Germany through their territory, and they could receive a huge amount of transit fees every year. What's more important is that Russia knows that once there is any trouble in the future, Russia and Ukraine and Poland have some problems, then they may cut off your pipeline, so Russia has tried its best to build Nord Stream No. 1.

North Stream No. 1 has been built very well, so I simply increased my investment and built a parallel line. This is Nord Stream No. 2. However, this Nord Stream No. 2 has been opposed by many countries. First, the United States believed that the completion of the two Nord Stream pipelines would completely kidnapped Germany by Russian energy. Then Ukraine and Poland felt that Nord Stream No. 2 would not be able to receive so much transit fees in the future, and they would not be able to block Russia's neck in energy.

So under the efforts of many countries, the road to Beixi 2 has been really bumpy. It was not until August and September last year that it was finally completed. However, as soon as Beixi 2 was built, Germany changed its leader. After the new leader came to power, he immediately said sorry. We need to re-examine the relevant documents of Beixi 2, so this pipeline costing tens of billions of euros was built, and it was useless at all.

But now Russia has given Germany a choice, we are willing to continue selling gas to you, but due to the turbine, the supply capacity of Beixi 1 can only reach 20% of the original. We also know that Germany does not buy this gas enough, but it doesn’t matter. Don’t we have a parallel line Beixi 2? The design capacity of Beixi 2 and Beixi 1 is exactly the same, and the brand new pipeline has also been tested, so there is no problem. If you need it in Germany, you might as well open Beixi 2.

To be honest, many people in Germany are also calling on their government to simply use Nord Stream 2 to supply gas. Two days ago, the mayors of seven cities in Germany jointly wrote to the German Chancellor Scholz , hoping that he could allow the use of Nord Stream 2.

To be honest, we can take a look at the map. Beixi No. 2 and Beixi No. 1 are completely parallel lines. If you don’t enlarge the map, you won’t see that these are two pipelines. Do you think this is not one pipeline? So for Germany and Russia, there is no difference between using No. 1 or No. 2 for gas supply. The distance is exactly the same, without any additional losses.

Since Beixi No. 1 is now in fault, it is fine to close it for a while and repair it well. It is absolutely fine to use the brand new Beixi No. 2 to supply gas. In fact, this is not a technical problem at all. This is a political problem. For Germany, Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 are completely parallel, and there is no difference between which pipeline to contact the air. But why would Germany rather endure 20% of the energy supply of Nord Stream 1 than allow the opening of Nord Stream 2?

This is because many people in Germany think that if they really use Nord Stream 2, they will be fooled by Putin and fall into Russia's trap. Since then, Germany has been completely kidnapped by Russia on energy issues. Why?

Because European countries think that today they have formulated various sanctions plans to decouple from Russia on energy issues, that is, they should not buy Russian oil and natural gas. However, if they finally have no choice but to open Nord Stream II, does this mean to expand the sales pipeline of Russian gas? Doesn’t this mean to completely raise the white flag on the issue of sanctions against Russia?

To be honest, there are even many people who have given Russia advice today, saying that they might just cut off Nord Stream No. 1, so that Germany can feel that there is no natural gas supply at all. What is this state, but Putin did not do this, why? Because it is indeed very important for Russia, the European market is also very important.

Today, Russia has the upper hand on energy issues, because its energy is hard currency and can be sold to anyone, while Germany and Europe lack energy, so they must surrender to Putin's ruble settlement order. However, as time goes by, European countries are not working now. They are looking for alternative energy every day, and even if they spend more money, they must find a supply that can replace Russian energy.

So for Russia, this is not a good thing in the long run. If Europe is really completely found alternative energy in two or three years, then they will really not buy Russian energy at all. At that time, the ruble settlement order may be invalid, which is also a heavy blow to the Russian economy.

Although many Asian countries will take over the Russian energy, the market will be reduced after all, and there are many unstable factors. What’s more important is that if there is no exchange with Europe on energy issues, will Europe impose more unscrupulous sanctions on Russia?

So for Putin, the current opportunity is very subtle, and the current opportunity is still very critical for Russia. On the one hand, Beixi No. 1 retains 20% of its production capacity, so that Germany can still provide some natural gas supply so that it will not be strangled to death at once, and it will not fight to trap beasts.

On the other hand, it tells the whole of Europe that Beixi No. 2 has been built long ago. Beixi No. 2 and Beixi No. 1 are two identical pipelines. Since you can buy from Beixi No. 1, why can't you buy from Beixi No. 2? Especially today, the whole of Europe has lost too much blood due to the Ukrainian War. The European people are really suffering. Winter is coming soon. Are they really allowed to take only 4 body parts every day?

So the goodwill released by Russia can be seen by the European people, and European people will continue to ask their government that since they can buy from Norxi No. 1, why can't they buy from its parallel line Norxi No. 2? Are there any differences between these two pipelines?

Once Germany is under pressure, it is obvious that this is a huge victory for Russia, which means that the entire Europe cannot completely decouple from Russia on energy issues. Even under your sanctions, Nord Stream 2 must be opened. This is indeed a good thing for the Russian economy, which means that it can sell energy to Europe for a long time in the future to obtain a stable market.

Of course, cooperation has always been a win-win situation. If Nord Stream 2 is really opened and the gas supply is stable, then German people will no longer have to wear thick sweaters in winter. Putin's ruble settlement a few months ago miraculously stabilized the ruble's currency value, reducing inflation in Russia. Even today, many other countries are learning this method.

Didn’t India launch a rupee settlement order two days ago? So will Russia’s reduced supply to Nord Stream 2 really make Germany finally agree to open Nord Stream 2? It may also be a turning point in the entire Western world's sanctions on Russia.