Italy will announce on Friday measures to support households and small firms most hit by the high energy costs, in a package worth a total of $3.14 billion (3 billion euros), Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said on Thursday.

“We will set aside 2 billion euros to support families and an additional 1 billion for small and medium-sized (SMEs) companies,” Salvini said in a radio interview, as quoted by Reuters.

The government’s aid package would be effective for three months, the official added, as Italy expects energy prices to start declining after the end of the winter season.

Salvini also expressed hope that there would be a ceasefire in Ukraine in the next three months, which would help lower energy prices.

High energy costs have been a hot potato for the Italian government in recent years.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has insisted that the larger part of the $3-billion package go to support families struggling with energy bills, officials have told Reuters.

Italy, the EU’s third-largest economy and the country holding the second-biggest natural gas storage space in the bloc, planned to begin refilling its sites as early as February, to avoid price spikes later in the year.

“Due to ongoing geopolitical tensions and possible speculation, there is a risk for 2025 that wholesale gas prices next summer will be higher than next winter, as was the case during the energy crisis of 2022,” Italian Energy Security Minister, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, told Parliament last month.

Europe’s gas prices for the summer have been higher than for the next winter in February. Summer gas prices have traded to a premium over the futures prices for next winter.

This premium has plunged in recent days amid milder weather in northwest Europe, which has slowed inventory drawdowns, while discussions about peace in Ukraine have also depressed commodity prices.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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