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"The European market remains relevant, as the gas shortage
persists, and we have every opportunity to resume supplies,"
TASS cited Novak as saying in remarks published by the agency on
Sunday.
"For example, the Yamal-Europe Pipeline, which was stopped for
political reasons, remains unused."
The Yamal-Europe Pipeline usually flows westward, but has been
mostly reversed since December of 2021 as Poland turned away
from buying from Russia in favour of drawing on stored gas in
Germany.
In May, Warsaw terminated its agreement with Russia, after
earlier rejecting Moscow's demand that it pays in roubles.
Russian supplier Gazprom responded by cutting off supply and
also said it would no longer be able to export gas via Poland
after Moscow imposed sanctions against the firm that owns the
Polish section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline.
Novak also reiterated that Moscow is discussing additional gas
supplies through Turkey after a creation of a hub there.
He also said that Moscow expects it will have shipped 21 billion
cubic metres (bcm) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe in
2022.
"This year we were able to significantly increase LNG supplies
to Europe," Novak said. "In the 11 months of 2022 they increased
to 19.4 bcm, by the end of the year 21 bcm are expected."
In a wide-ranging interview with the TASS agency, parts of which
have been published throughout the weekend, Novak also said that
Russia has agreed with Azerbaijan to increase gas supplies for
its domestic consumption.
"In the future, when they increase gas production, we will be
able to discuss swaps," he said.
Moscow is also discussing higher supplies of its gas to
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, he said.
Novak also said that in the long-term, Russia can send its
natural gas to the markets of Afghanistan and Pakistan, either
using the infrastructure of Central Asia, or in a swap from the
territory of Iran.
(Reporting in Melbourne by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Leslie Adler,
Nick Zieminski and Michael Perry)
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