Russia increases gas supplies to Italy

Gas supplies to the frozen European Union from Russia improved at the weekend but have not fully recovered, the European Commission said on Monday, as Italy convened a crisis committee to handle what it called critical shortages of Russian gas, Reuters reports.
"It has become better over the weekend. We are in close contact with the member-states," EU energy spokeswoman Marlene Holzner told a regular briefing.
She said Bulgaria, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Poland and Greece were now receiving normal import levels, while supplies to Romania, Germany and Italy were increasing, but were not yet fully restored.
The European Commission maintains that the situation does not constitute a crisis, with countries being able to meet their needs using storage facilities and other market measures.