War in Ukraine: Poland and Bulgaria deprived of gas by Russia

Russia has taken action: Gazprom has not delivered gas to Poland or Bulgaria since the morning of Wednesday 27 April. The two European countries are very dependent on Russian resources: 90% for Bulgaria, and 57% for Poland. “Since the first day of the war, we have claimed that we are completely independent from Russian gas”, said Anna Moskwa, the Polish Minister for Climate and the Environment, in the morning. She previously explained, in a tweet, that Poland would have made up reserves, 76% full.

The Bulgarians have fewer stocks and connections to the European gas network. Russia justifies the sanction by the refusal of the two nations to pay for the gas in rubles, a position shared by France, which could suffer the same fate from Vladimir Putin. “He said it recently, that if certain countries were to accept that flows be reused to help Poland or Bulgaria, he would also cut off those countries”, analyzes Thierry Bros, specialist in energy issues and professor at Sciences Po. France, which imports only 17% of Russian gas, has built up stocks. To reduce its dependence, it is also turning to other suppliers and relying more on liquefied natural gas.