Russia stops gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria
Putin receives Guterres in Moscow – Western states meet in Ramstein
Western countries, including Germany, promised more weapons to Ukraine at a conference at the US Rammstein Air Force Base in Rhineland-Palatinate. Meanwhile, Russian President Putin welcomed UN chief Guterres in Moscow.
From Wednesday, Russia wants to cut gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria. Background There is a dispute over the type of payment in dollars, euros or rubles. The US government has already announced support.
POlen and Bulgaria will have to do without Russian gas supplies from Wednesday. The Polish and Bulgarian governments said on Tuesday that Russian gas company Gazprom informed them that supplies would be cut off. If more such moves are taken against other countries, it could have serious economic consequences, especially in Germany, which is heavily dependent on Russian gas supplies. However, Russia will also cut its flesh by doing so.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in March that gas will no longer be supplied to “unfriendly” customers if they do not pay Gazprom in rubles. He clearly wanted to counter the decline in the value of the ruble due to Western sanctions. Western countries refused to comply because doing so would weaken their own sanctions. He also mentioned valid contracts. About 60 percent of gas contracts are in euros, the rest in dollars.
Polish state-owned gas company PGNiG said it was informed by Gazprom that the company would stop supply through the Yamal pipeline on Wednesday morning. The reason for this is the refusal of Poland to pay for delivery in rubles in accordance with the request of Russia.
The Yamal Pipeline passes through Belarus and supplies Germany and Poland. According to the website of the European Network of Transmission System Operators, gas flows have already dropped significantly at Kondraty entry points in eastern Poland and Vysokaye in Belarus.
Poland receives about nine billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia every year. Environment Minister Anna Moskva said Poland was prepared for the current situation. Your country has been working for years to become independent of the Russian energy supply and has practically achieved it. “There will be no shortage of Polish apartments,” she tweeted.
The Polish government confirmed this week that it would supply tanks to the Ukrainian military. In addition, the country is an important transit country for arms shipments from the United States and other Western countries to Ukraine.
The Bulgarian government rejected a Russian proposal to pay for gas in a two-stage process. This violates existing treaties and poses a significant risk to Bulgaria, she argued. Among other things, there is a risk that Bulgaria will pay but will not be supplied. Gazprom finally announced that deliveries via the Turkstream pipeline would be halted on Wednesday. Russian delivery options are being explored with the help of government companies.
Bulgaria, with about 6.5 million residents, meets more than 90 percent of its gas needs from Russian imports. The government assured that there will be no restriction on the supply of gas to private households for the time being. The liberal cabinet took office in the fall and severed many of the traditionally close ties with Russia and also condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Bulgaria is providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine but has been reluctant to provide military supplies. Prime Minister Kirill Petkov wanted to visit Kyiv on Wednesday to talk about further aid.
The US government said that it was preparing for such a move by Russia. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said among other things, states in Asia have been asked to increase deliveries to Europe. The effort will continue.
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