ROME, April 16. /TASS/. Italian Minister of Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said his country has managed to "overcome dependence on Russian gas," although about 10% of its gas still comes from Russia.

‘Earlier, about 40% of our gas demand was met by Russian supplies, now they account for less than 10%. In fact, we have overcome dependence from Moscow by boosting pipeline gas deliveries from the east via the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), and from Africa under new agreements with Algeria and Libya," the minister said in an interview to the Corriere della Sera newspaper, published on Sunday.

"LNG regasification terminals will allow us to buy gas at the best price all over the world, as we look forward to the development of alternative energy sources and ponder on when we should start designing fourth-generation nuclear energy facilities," the minister continued.

In his words, the demand for gas remains high in Italy, which uses it to produce two thirds of its electricity.

Pichetto Fratin also confirmed the forecasts for gas and electricity prices, which are expected to grow by 5-15% in the third quarter of 2023 and 10-25% - in the fourth quarter. He explained it as a natural process, which occurs when countries are purchasing gas to fill their gas storage facilities in the run-up to the heating season.

The previous government set the task of completely rejecting Russian gas supplies by mid-2024. The incumbent cabinet reaffirmed this objective.