The Polish government has been told that Russia’s gas supplies from Russia will be suspended on Wednesday after Warsaw’s refusal to pay its supplier Gazprom in rubles, as an obvious warning shot to the rest of Europe.
The decision to cut off supplies at 8 a.m. CET also followed Poland’s announcement earlier Tuesday that it was imposing sanctions on 50 legal entities and individuals – including Russia’s largest gas company – for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The move will be a major concern for those countries that are most dependent on Russian gas, such as Germany, but at a hastily held press conference, Polish ministers said they had enough supplies to withstand a break, accusing Gazprom of breach of contract. .
Anna Moskva, the climate minister, said: “There are no worries about gas shortages in our homes. It is worth noting that only liquefied natural gas supplies the market sufficiently. LNG deliveries in [terminal] Świnoujście is growing – in 2015 there was one, in 2021 there were already 35. To date, it provides about 50 deliveries. “
She added: “The appropriate diversification strategies we have introduced allow us to feel safe in this situation.
PGNiG, Poland’s largest gas supplier, said it would file a lawsuit for breach of contract over Gazprom’s decision.
Russia currently supplies about 55% of Poland’s annual demand of about 21 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas, but the country’s government is still urging the EU and other Western allies to go further in punishing the Kremlin.
The non-governmental organization Europe Beyond Coal estimates that the EU has sent more than 41 billion euros (34.7 billion British pounds) to Russia for fossil fuel payments since invading Ukraine two months ago.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has already said he intends to ban Russian gas and oil imports by the end of the year and is in the process of diversifying to cover losses.
The key Yamal pipeline carries natural gas from Russia to Poland and Germany via Belarus. However, the Polish government has made a clear break from dependence by building a liquefied natural gas terminal in the Baltic port of Swinoujscie, run by Qatari and US companies, capable of handling 5 billion cubic meters of gas. It will expand to 7.5 billion cubic meters by 2023.
However, the extent to which Polish industry will be able to rely on this flow remains to be seen, and other countries will be concerned about development.
Moscow warned customers in March that they risked cutting off gas supplies unless they paid in rubles.
However, the European Commission said companies must continue to pay Gazprom in the currency agreed in their contracts, about 97% of which are in euros or dollars.
The only EU leader who has suggested he will pay Gazprom in rubles is Hungary’s Viktor Orban, whose right-wing government has maintained close ties with Putin’s regime for more than a decade.
The Kremlin’s move comes as EU member states draft a sixth wave of sanctions, which may include imposing a ceiling on the price paid for Russian oil.
But there remains a reluctance in Berlin, in particular, to take gas imports seriously, given the German economy’s dependence on Russia in this area.
In early April, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the Bundestag that the country’s energy dependence had increased over decades and could not be stopped day by day, given that this would lead to a rationing of energy to industry and the potential closure of its largest factories.
On Tuesday, Gazprom denied that gas flows to Poland had been halted. Spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said: “Today, Poland has to pay for gas supplies under the new payment procedure.”
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