Final Word from Tuesday, August 16, 2022

A new calculation by Daniel Gros of the Center for European Policy Studies shows that German industry paid more for natural gas through the end of last year than competitors in many other European countries. FAZ latched on to this as a dispelling of the myth of cheap Russian gas. "One could of course argue that Russia sold its energy cheaply to Germany to make the country dependent," Gros wrote, "but the data challenges the common perception that Germany receives cheap gas." He didn't mention the CR, but he provided a link to data that show that Czech industry actually had cheaper natural gas on average than Germany through the end of last year, and much cheaper gas than Poland. Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin told journalists in July that the Yamal gas pipeline to Poland was closed because Poland found that it could buy Russian gas cheaper from Germany than it could buy Russian gas directly from Russia. Czechs might want to compare notes with their Polish neighbors. [ Czech Republic Project Syndicate Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Eurostat ]