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Russia’s state-owned gas company Gazprom said on Wednesday it had cut off natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, a move that marks a significant escalation of economic tensions between Moscow and the West over the war in Ukraine.
Gazprom said in a statement on Wednesday that it had suspended gas supplies to Polish gas company PGNiG and Bulgaria’s Bulgargaz because they had failed to fulfill their mandate to pay in Russian currency. The suspension will continue from Wednesday “until payments are made in rubles,” Gazprom said.
PGNiG confirmed the interruption, saying that Gazprom’s natural gas supplies had been “completely suspended”. He added that “currently the situation does not affect current deliveries” to customers, who he believes are currently receiving fuel as they wish.
Gazprom noted that part of its gas destined for other countries passes through Bulgaria and Poland, which are members of both NATO and the European Union. Gazprom said that if PGNiG or Bulgargaz sucked gas destined for third countries, supplies to those countries “would be reduced by the volume that was seized.” This is the first supply disruption since Russian President Vladimir Putin said “unfriendly countries” would have to pay for natural gas in rubles instead of other currencies. European leaders rejected Putin’s request and accused Gazprom of violating its agreements.
The European Union relies heavily on Russian natural gas, which heats homes, cooks and generates electricity in most of the bloc’s 27 member states. Officials and experts have long worried that the European Union is too dependent on Moscow and warn that the link could be armed. Both countries targeting Tuesday are particularly vulnerable: Poland receives more than 45 per cent of its natural gas from Russia and Bulgaria more than 70 per cent, according to EU figures.
PGNiG said that Gazprom had sent him a letter informing the company of the “complete suspension of supplies” from the Yamal gas pipeline, which runs from Siberia to Europe. Following the announcement, Polish authorities insisted the country had sufficient gas supplies.
“There will be no shortage of gas in Polish homes,” Polish Climate Minister Anna Moscow wrote on Twitter.
The Bulgarian government also said it had secured alternative gas supplies and that there would be no internal restrictions on consumption.
Ukrainian officials were quick to criticize Gazprom’s decision, saying the move was revenge against the European Union for its firm support for Kyiv – especially Poland, which was particularly vocal in its support and was a center for arms and supplies flowing into Ukraine. . Andrei Ermak, head of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s cabinet, said Russia had begun “blackmailing Europe with gas”.
“We see efforts to increase the advance and ignore all rules and obligations, which is typical of Russians. This was said by Ermak in a publication in the Telegram. “Russia is trying to destroy the unity of our allies. … That is why the EU must be united and impose an embargo on energy resources by depriving the Russians of their energy weapons.
European energy imports have been on fire for years and have come under new scrutiny since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. Russia remains the bloc’s leading supplier of oil, natural gas and solid fossil fuels, such as coal, and Zelensky has called on the European Union to cancel its energy payments from Moscow for “blood money”.
The EU is presenting a plan to cut Russian gas imports by two-thirds this year, without a boycott
Late last year, amid a deteriorating energy crisis, the European Union was already looking for ways to break free from its dependence on Russian imports, as some lawmakers accused the Kremlin of restricting gas supplies to inflate prices and pressure European regulators to speed up approval of Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
But imports continue, as the war in Ukraine intensifies and European leaders sharply criticize Putin. Last month, the European Union’s executive body outlined an ambitious plan to wean the bloc of Russian fossil fuels by 2030, relying instead on other sources and boosting renewable energy production. The proposal does not reach the immediate total ban on Russian oil and gas introduced by the United States, but this year alone will reduce Russian gas imports by two-thirds, a dramatic step.
“We simply cannot rely on a supplier who explicitly threatens us,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the time.
However, even one of the commission’s top officials acknowledged that the change would be “bloody”, bringing with it price increases and possible domestic turmoil.
On Tuesday, some analysts said Gazprom’s move could accelerate the severance of ties. Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, called it “another sign of the politicization of existing agreements with Russia” and predicted that it would “only accelerate Europe’s efforts to move away from Russian energy supplies”.
Irinka Hromotska and Anabel Chapman contributed to this report.
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