NOVO-OGAREVO, October 6. /TASS/. Gazprom has never refused to increase natural gas deliveries to Europe when appropriate requests were in place, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday at the meeting on energy sector development issues.

Minimal and maximal levels of supplies are set in contracts for gas deliveries overseas, the head of state said.

"There was not a single case in history when Gazprom refused to increase supplies to its consumers if they post relevant requests," Putin said.

The head of state cited the situation with Germany, one of the largest Russian gas consumers, as an example. Germany increased purchases by 10.1 bln cubic meters of gas, or by 31.8%, against the like period of 2020, Putin said.

"Even in 2020, when total deliveries to Europe declined against 2019, we nevertheless supplied more to Germany, plus 4.7 bln cubic meters - that is, 112.9%," the President added.