Poland (Poland) and Bulgaria (Bulgaria) Russia’s leaders on natural gas (Natural Gas) Accused of doing ‘blackmail’ through Before that, Russia (Russia) On Wednesday, it was announced by the state-owned energy company to stop gas supply to these two European countries. The suspension of gas supplies was announced after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that non-allied countries would have to pay for gas in Russian ruble. But Bulgaria and Poland refused to do so.
Russian energy company Gazprom said in a statement that it has not received any payments from Poland and Bulgaria since April 1 and is stopping gas supplies to these countries from Wednesday. The company said that if these countries want to take gas supplied to other European consumers, then that amount will be reduced from the gas given to Europe. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told Poland’s parliament on Wednesday that he believed the action was in retaliation for Warsaw’s new sanctions against Russia.
Moraviecki pledged that Poland would not be afraid of gas cuts. He said that the country is safe from the energy crisis due to years of efforts to ensure gas supply from other countries. Lawmakers stood up to applaud when they said Russia’s “gas blackmail” would have no effect on Poland. Poland on Tuesday imposed new sanctions on several Russian companies, including energy giant Gazprom. Poland then said it had received notice that Gazprom was going to stop its gas supply for failing to comply with a demand to pay in Russian ruble currency.
Gas supply stopped in Poland since Wednesday
Polish gas company PGNIG said gas supply from the Yamal pipeline was cut early Wednesday after Gazprom had warned it would do so. Bulgaria said on Tuesday that it had also been informed by Gazprom that gas supplies would be stopped. Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Kirill Petkov called Gazprom’s suspension of gas supplies a gross breach of contract and blackmail. Kirill said, we will not bow to such pressure.
This move of Russia increased the concern of European countries
Russia’s move has raised concerns that other European countries could be targeted next. Western countries have increased their support for Ukraine over the Ukraine-Russia war. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Gazprom’s announcement was another attempt by Russia to use gas as a means of blackmail. The next scheduled payment from Greece to Gazprom is due on May 25, but the government will have to decide before that whether it will comply with the demand for a transaction in rubles. Greece is expanding its natural gas storage capacity and has contingency plans to switch several industry sectors from gas to diesel as an emergency energy source.
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Russia supplies 45 percent of Poland’s total gas
Before stopping the gas supply, Russia accounted for about 45 percent of Poland’s total gas use. But the people of Poland are more dependent on coal for heating and fuel for homes. In Poland, gas accounts for only seven percent of the total energy. Russian supplies of gas to Poland were already expected to be exhausted by the end of this year. Poland has worked for many years to secure supplies from other countries. Several years ago, Poland opened its first terminal for liquefied natural gas, or LNG, on the Baltic Sea coast. Apart from this, a pipeline from Norway is about to start work this year.
