Filenews 27 April 2022
Gazprom cut off its gas supply on Wednesday morning to Bulgaria and Poland for failing to pay the energy giant in roubles.
As Reuters reports, Poland and Bulgaria are the first countries in which Europe's main energy supplier has cut off gas supplies since Moscow invaded Ukraine.
Dutch futures were earlier found to jump 24% to €127.5 per megawatt hour, the highest since April 1, as reported by Bloomberg. At the moment they are up 6% to €109.51.
Vladimir Putin demanded that the countries he calls "unfriendly" agree to a payment system, under which they would open accounts with Gazprombank and make payments for imports of Russian gas in euros or dollars converted into roubles.
"Payments for gas supplied from April 1 must be made in roubles using the new payment method, about which counterparties were informed in a timely manner," Gazprom announced on Wednesday.
At the same time, he warned that natural gas in Germany, Hungary and Serbia passing through Poland and Bulgaria would also be cut off in the event of an unauthorised retention from Warsaw and Sofia.
"Bulgaria and Poland are transit countries. In case of unauthorised retention of Russian gas passing to third countries, the transit quantities will be reduced proportionately," Gazprom stressed.
Duma's president, Vyacheslav Volodin, commented that Gazprom made the right decision, completely cutting off gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland, and added that Moscow should do the same with other "unfriendly" countries.
Bulgaria: Gazprom violates contract terms
Bulgarian Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov said today that Russia's proposed payment system poses significant risks for his country.
He also stressed that Sofia has paid for Russian gas deliveries for April and their suspension would be a breach of the existing contract with the Russian company Gazprom.
Nikolov added that Bulgaria is following the recommendations of the European Commission which calls on countries not to pay in roubles for Russian gas, as Vladimir Putin has requested.
"As all commercial and legal obligations are respected, it is clear that at the moment natural gas is being used more as a political and economic weapon in the current war," the Bulgarian minister estimated.
Bulgaria's energy ministry has announced that Gazprom has informed Bulgarian state-owned gas company Bulgargaz that it would stop gas supplies from today.
Russian gas supplies to Bulgaria continue for the time being, Vladimir Malinov, the executive director of the Bulgarian gas network management company Bulgartransgaz, told Reuters.
The ministry will hold a press conference later today to report on the situation.
Poland confirms suspension of deliveries by Gazprom
Polish gas company PGNiG today announced "the complete suspension of gas deliveries by Gazprom under its (Pipeline) Yamal contract."
"The situation does not affect the current supply to PGNiG customers who receive gas based on demand," the company said in a statement.
"The suspension of gas deliveries is a breach of contract and PGNiG reserves its right to seek compensation and will use any legal and contractual means to do so," the Polish company stressed.
Poland has repeatedly said it will not pay for Russian gas in roubles and has planned not to extend its gas contract with Gazprom after it expires at the end of this year.
Smooth flow of Russian gas through Serbia and Bulgaria to Hungary
Meanwhile, Hungary's foreign minister said his country normally receives Russian gas through Serbia and Bulgaria despite the dispute between the latter and Gazprom.
"I want to assure everyone that not delivering gas shipments to Bulgaria does not mean stopping the passage of cargoes through Bulgaria," Peter Siyarto notes on his Facebook page.
Siyarto noted that Hungary's next gas payment is forecast on May 22 and that his country will transfer funds in euros to Gazprombank to be converted into roubles.
Hungary is receiving 3.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas annually through Bulgaria and Serbia on the basis of the long-term agreement it concluded with Russia and a further 1 billion cubic metre via pipeline from Austria.
Its agreement with Gazprom has been for 15 years, with the possibility of modifying the quantities purchased after 10 years.
Source: Capital.gr
