THE productivity of the Spanish economy fell by 4.5 per cent from 1995 to 2017 while that of the eurozone rose by 1.4 per cent, according to a new study. The BBVA Foundation and Valencian Institute of Economic Research’s (IVIE) study found declines happened both through pre-recession years of growth and during the crisis from 2008 onwards. Spanish productivity only began to pick up in 2014 during the post-recession recovery. It grew by 2.7 per cent from 2014 to 2017, the study showed. Source Euro Weekly
President Vladimir Putin told Gazprom PJSC to turn to refilling European gas-storage facilities next month, signaling that long-awaited additional Russian supplies could be on the way. The move will “create a more favorable situation on the European energy market,” Putin said at a meeting broadcast on state television Wednesday. Source Al Jazeera
The chaos in gas and electricity markets is set to hit one group of people the hardest this winter: the four million households that use prepayment meters (PPMs).
While most people pay their bills monthly for energy they have already used, PPMs require people to pay for energy before they use it. PPMs take whatever money is in the meter and supply energy to the household. Source Open Democracy
Russia’s Gazprom has damped hopes for additional gas exports to Europe next month as the continent struggles with record prices, despite recent hints from President Vladimir Putin that more could be forthcoming.
UK and European gas prices surged as much as 18 per cent on Monday after a keenly awaited pipeline capacity auction showed no increase from Russia either through the Ukrainian pipeline system or lines passing via Poland to north-west Europe. Source FT
