Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi on Monday accused Russia of economic terrorism in an attempt to prevent European countries from hoarding gas ahead of winter, when rising electricity bills will hit people and businesses hard.

How Europe will respond to rising gas prices, also exacerbated by a cut in supplies from Russia, is high on the political agenda across the continent as autumn approaches.

Volodymyr Zelenskyi has accused Russia of economic terrorism as Russian giant Gazprom plans to carry out maintenance this week that will shut down gas flows on the Nord Stream gas pipeline that supplies Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea.

The gas cut raises fears that Russia is cutting supplies to pressure the West, which opposes its invasion of Ukraine, a charge Moscow denies.

Increase in energy prices

Germany’s benchmark electricity prices for 2023 topped 1,000 euros per megawatt hour for the first time on Monday as supply problems kept gas, electricity and coal prices high.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the response should be coordinated by the European Union, while the Czech Republic called an emergency meeting of energy ministers.

“Ahead of the EU Energy Council, we want to find a way to help people and businesses that we can agree with other European leaders,” he added.

The Czechs, who preside over the EU, announced that the meeting will take place on September 9.

Last week, the Czech Republic said it was seeking support for a bloc-wide cap on energy prices, a measure backed by former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

European countries are stockpiling

Countries such as Germany and Italy, which depend heavily on Russian gas imports for energy, are stockpiling gas ahead of the cold winter months when demand peaks.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Monday that German gas capacity is 80% full and prices are expected to fall further.

Italy reached a similar level, which provides protection against further supply shocks.

“As a result, the markets will calm down and go down,” Habek said.

It will not be a domino effect like the financial crisis of 2008

Habeck also reiterated that Germany will not allow a Lehman Brothers-style domino effect on its gas market.

“I promise on behalf of the German government that we will always provide liquidity for all energy companies, that we will not have a Lehman Brothers effect in the market,” Habeck said, referring to the collapse of the US investment bank that helped trigger the 2008 financial crisis.

A less optimistic forecast was made by the head of the major gas producer Shell, who warned that gas shortages may persist.

“We may well have a couple of winters where we have to somehow find a solution,” Ben van Beurden, Shell’s chief executive, told a news conference at an industry meeting in the Norwegian city of Stavanger.

Elon Musk: We must use oil and gas in the short term

Tesla founder Elon Musk told reporters at the same event that the world must continue to extract oil and gas to sustain civilization and develop sustainable energy sources.

“Realistically, I think we have to use oil and gas in the short term because otherwise civilization will collapse,” Musk said.