- Gazprom is ready to cut natural gas supplies to the Netherlands as Dutch trader GasTerra refuses to pay in rubles.
- This is after Russian President Putin demanded payments for natural gas in rubles.
- The Danish Orsted also rejected the request and warned that its supplies from Gazprom could be interrupted.
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Russia’s energy giant Gazprom will cut natural gas supplies to the Netherlands on Tuesday as Dutch trader GasTerra refused to make payments in rubles.
In a March 31 decree, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that payments for natural gas be made in rubles, which would lead to the opening of a euro account and rubles to Gazprombank in Moscow to process the payments.
“GasTerra will not comply with Gazprom’s demands for payment,” said GasTerra, which is partly state-owned and trades on behalf of the government.
“This is because it would put at risk of violating EU sanctions, and also because there are too many financial and operational risks associated with the required payment route,” the Dutch company said in a press release Monday. “In particular, the opening of accounts in Moscow under Russian law and their control by the Russian regime poses too great a risk.
In response, Gazprom announced it would cut off natural gas supplies to GasTerra on Tuesday, according to the Dutch company.
The Dutch government has said it understands GasTerra’s decision not to comply with Gazprom’s request to pay in rubles.
“This decision has no consequences for the physical supply of gas to Dutch households,” Dutch Climate and Energy Minister Rob Yetten said on Twitter on Monday. The Netherlands relies on Russia for about 15% of its gas supplies, according to Reuters.
The Dutch government says on its website that the country has sufficient gas reserves for the short term and plans to import more liquefied natural gas from countries other than Russia.
Denmark may be next
In neighboring Denmark, energy company Orsted is also warning of a halt to Gazprom’s natural gas supplies as it also refuses to pay in rubles.
“We have no legal obligation under the contract to do so, and we have repeatedly informed Gazprom Export that we will not do so,” Orsted said in a statement Monday.
As Orsted intends to continue paying in euros for payments due on Tuesday, “there is a risk that Gazprom Export will stop supplying gas to Orsted,” the energy company said.
Orsted said he expects to be able to buy gas on the European gas market. Both the Netherlands and Denmark also produce their own natural gas.
The Danish Energy Agency said in a press release Monday that it does not expect an immediate impact from the suspension of natural gas supplies from Gazprom and has a contingency plan in place.
Gazprom did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
Gazprom has already cut off gas supplies to Poland, Bulgaria and Finland, as they have all refused to pay in rubles.
Not all of Europe is ready to stop Russian natural gas right now. Some large buyers, such as Italy’s Eni and Germany’s Uniper, have opened accounts with Gazprombank to meet Russia’s payment requirements.
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