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Poll: Europe wary of Russia as energy supplier

18 February 2008 10:49 (UTC +04:00)

Overall, a majority of respondents in Britain, France, Italy and Germany were opposed to Russian companies investing in their countries.
Only Spain bucked the trend: 55 percent of Spaniards welcomed investment from Russia.
Despite the unease towards Russia as an energy provider, only in Britain did a majority of respondents, 60 percent, regard Russia as a foe rather than a friend.
When it comes to using renewable energy as a rival to Russian energy, the majority of respondents with bill-paying responsibility in their houses said they would not pay more for energy from renewable sources.
A majority of those that said they would pay more, meanwhile, said they would only accept price increases of five percent.
In all the five European countries, along with the United States, a clear majority favoured increased investment in wind farms. Germany at 79 percent was the lowest, while the US was highest with 92 percent of respondents favouring such proposals.
An overwhelming majority also backed cutting taxes on low-polluting cars.
The FT/Harris poll questioned 6,448 people over the Internet between January 30 and February 8.