ROME, December 20. /TASS/. Gazprom has little prospect of restoring the European sales market, but it will be replaced by new export destinations, as well as additional ways of using natural gas, Demostenes Floros, a leading energy expert at the European Research Center (CER - Centro Europa Ricerche), told TASS.

"The main goal of the Russian strategy is to replace the majority of former European buyers of natural gas with new Asian consumers in the current decade - primarily in China, but also in India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Mongolia. In particular, with the loss of the European market, Russia is effectively revising its strategy for exporting natural gas in two directions: increasing and/or maintaining pipeline flows to the main markets outside the EU (Turkey and China), as well as towards the countries in the former Soviet Union (Belarus, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan), which have the world's largest infrastructure network. At the same time, investments are being made in liquefied natural gas, the export of which is constantly growing," the expert said.

He also drew attention to the growing potential of the ever-expanding domestic market and mentioned new ways of using natural gas in the future - for example, for the production of hydrogen and ammonia, necessary for the energy transition and agriculture (in production of fertilizers).

Although the European Union has declared that it intends to abandon natural gas (and not only Russian), Floros does not rule out that the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine may bring surprises. In particular, the EU energy policy may be adjusted when Europe needs to guarantee economic growth, undermined by rising energy prices after replacing cheaper Russian gas.

On December 19, at a Q&A session along with his annual press conference with journalists, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that there will definitely be no contract for the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine, but Gazprom will overcome it.