Russian gas giant Gazprom announced on Thursday it would stop using a key gas pipeline to Europe via Poland, in response to Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its offensive in Ukraine.
The adoption of the Russian counter-sanctions “means a ban on using a gas pipeline belonging to EuRoPol GAZ (which operates the Polish part of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, editor’s note) to transport Russian gas through Poland”, indicated Gazprom in a statement on Telegram.
On Wednesday, Russia announced sanctions against more than 30 companies from the European Union, the United States and Singapore, in retaliation for sanctions imposed on it for its military offensive against Ukraine.
The list of sanctioned companies includes 31 companies, including EuRoPol GAZ SA, the owner of the Polish part of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, a major gas axis that carries Russian gas through Belarus and Poland to Germany.
Gazprom adds that before that “the Polish side repeatedly violated Gazprom’s rights as a shareholder of EuRoPol GAZ and on April 26, 2022 placed Gazprom on the sanctions list, blocking the possibility for company to exercise rights on the shares and other securities of EuroPol GAZ, and to receive dividends”.
Many of the other sanctioned companies belong to Gazprom Germania, the German subsidiary of the Russian gas giant, which the German state has placed under its control because of its strategic importance. Gazprom for its part announced in early April its “withdrawal” from this subsidiary, without saying more.
These sanctions include a ban on transactions and the entry into Russian ports of vessels linked to the companies concerned.
Western sanctions against Russia, unprecedented, range from the freezing of Russian reserves to an embargo on strategic products, and financial sanctions.
Gazprom had already announced at the end of April suspending all its gas deliveries to Bulgaria and Poland, these two member countries of the European Union having refused to settle their bills in rubles, a measure decided by Vladimir Putin in response to European sanctions.
In response, the EU indicated that these two countries are now supplied by their neighbors in the European Union.
Finally, for the past two days, gas transit to Europe via Ukraine has also been affected by the conflict.
The Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline directly linking Russia to Germany is not affected.