MILANO – The Russian giant Gazprom suspended gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria. This was announced by the same company explaining that the decision is due to the non-payment in rubles by the two countries. The company has informed Bulgargaz and Pgnig, its Bulgarian and Polish counterparts, that flows will remain suspended until payments in rubles are received. As Poland and Bulgaria are states of transit for gas to third countries, Gazprom also warned the two countries that in the event of unauthorized withdrawal of Russian gas destined for third countries, transit supplies will be reduced by a similar amount.
According to Bloomberg, four European buyers have already paid for Gazprom gas in rubles and ten have opened the accounts with Gazprombank needed to comply with Moscow’s request to pay in local currency. The president of the Duma Vyacheslav Volodin instead he called for the stop provision to be extended to all “hostile” countries. “Gazprom has completely suspended the supply of gas to Bulgaria and Poland. The same should be done with regard to our hostile countries towards us,” Volodin said today on Telegram.
For the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen“Gazprom’s announcement is another attempt by Russia to blackmail us with gas. We are prepared for this scenario. We are charting our coordinated EU response. Europeans can trust that we are united and in solidarity with states. affected members. “” A meeting of the coordination group on gas is underway, “he also announced in a statement.
Bulgaria: “Reserves for a month, we will not bow our heads”
On the front of the two countries, however, there are news of opposite signs. According to what was communicated to Reuters yes Vladimir Malinov, executive director of the Bulgarian gas network operator Bulgartransgaz, Russian gas supplies to Bulgaria for the moment continue to flow as the European Union network of gas transport operators said in the morning that Russian gas deliveries to Bulgaria Poland would be restored after being briefly interrupted. Energy Minister Alexander Nikolovquoted by Bloomberg, said Bulgaria had secured gas reserves for at least a month and did not violate any contracts with Gazprom, to which it paid for gas in dollars in April. “Bulgaria will not negotiate under pressure and head down,” said Nikolov, according to whom “it is clear that natural gas is being used as a political and commercial weapon in the context of war right now.” The Bulgarian minister said that his country has secured gas through alternative sources and that at the moment there are no restrictions on consumption. As for the suspicions raised about countries that would open accounts in rubles, from Germany the government spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit, specified: “German gas importers pay in euros”.
Moscow blocks gas in Poland and Bulgaria: “If you still want it, pay in rubles”
by our correspondent Claudio Tito
What’s behind Moscow’s move
But the Moscow initiative has a political rather than an economic objective at the moment. The smallest part of the gas destined for Europe arrives from the Yamal pipeline and has been stopped several times in recent months, officially for maintenance work. Gas arrives in Germany from Nord Stream, in Italy from up to the Tarvisio pass and in central Europe from the Turkish Stream. And the flows, in the three infrastructures, have never stopped since the aggression against Ukraine began.
The fact that Moscow accuses Poland and Bulgaria of not wanting to pay in rubles appears to be a pretext, given that the obligation is to convert euros and dollars and this can be done by the Russian authorities. Furthermore, only a few days ago the EU operators, including Eni, received notice that the obligation had been postponed and would only be applied starting from the end of May. All this would show that the Kremlin is sending messages to the limit of blackmail, knowing that gas – once the winter has passed – is mainly used to feed energy-intensive industries (steel mills, cement factories, glass, paper, chemicals).
In particular, in Germany and Italy: but the flows towards the two main manufacturing economies of Europe are currently regular. Also because interrupting would mean not collecting the billions of euros to support the Kremlin coffers and the proceeds that finance the war. The message, therefore, appears to observers mainly political, because it falls on the day when the EU meets again to talk about an embargo on oil and gas. By choosing two former Soviet bloc countries to block supplies, Putin seeks to work on the rifts within the EU. And he tries to raise prices, to hinder purchases for the filling operations of the warehouses in view of next winter.
Poland, we will no longer buy gas from Russia
Meanwhile, the Warsaw government has explained that in any case it intends to give up Russian supplies. This was confirmed by the Minister for Energy Infrastructures, Piotr Naimsky, in an interview on Rmf radio, reported by Tass. Asked whether Poland will buy gas from Russia in the near future, Naimsky replied: “No. We will not buy gas from Russian companies.” The minister stressed that Poland had been preparing to give up Russian gas for six years. Naimsky assured that there will be no difficulties in supplying Polish consumers. “I can guarantee that gas will be there, unless some sort of cataclysm occurs. Under foreseeable conditions, we will have gas supplies,” he explained.
Fly the price of gas
The effects of the squeeze were felt on gas prices this morning. On the Ttf stock exchange in Amsterdam, futures for May delivery rose 16% to 119.7 euros per MWh, after also hitting a maximum of 125 euros at the start. During the morning, the price took a downward trajectory, positioning itself around 104 euros.