The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is also being played out in the field of energy. The Russian group Gazprom will stop gas deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria from Wednesday, these two countries announced on Tuesday, April 26.
“On April 26, 2022, Gazprom informed PGNiG of its intention to completely suspend deliveries under the Yamal contract (…) on April 27”announced in a press release the Polish gas company PGNiG.
“Today (Tuesday), Bulgargas EAD received notification that deliveries from Gazprom Export will be suspended from April 27, 2022”also said a little later the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy, while this Balkan country is more than 90% dependent on Russian gas.
No shortage according to the two countries
These two members of NATO and the European Union (EU), however, say they are prepared to obtain the missing gas from other sources.
“There will be no shortage of gas in Polish homes”, Climate Minister Anna Moskwa said on Twitter. “From the first day of the war, we declared that we were ready for complete independence from Russian raw materials”she added.
“Actions to find alternative arrangements for the supply of natural gas and deal with the situation” have been undertaken, underlined for its part the Bulgarian government in a press release, ensuring that it does not foresee “at present” no consumption restrictions.
After the introduction of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin warned EU countries that their gas supply would be cut off if they did not pay in rubles from Russian accounts. Moscow clarified, however, that the price of gas remained denominated in the currency of the current contracts, most often in euros or dollars, and that customers would have to carry out a simple exchange transaction in Russia.
“The Bulgarian side has fully fulfilled its obligations and made all payments required under the contract in due time”, reacted the government. And to denounce “the new two-step payment procedure proposed by the Russian side”.
“It does not comply with the existing contract until the end of this year and presents significant risks for the Bulgarian side, in particular that of making payments without receiving any gas delivery from the Russian side”he added.