WARSAW, Poland (AP)-Polish and Bulgarian leaders have accused Moscow of using natural gas to blackmail their countries after a state-controlled Russian energy company said it did. Stop delivery on Wednesday by two European countries.
Loss of gas This came after Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that “hostile” countries should start paying for gas in rubles, Russia’s currency, which Bulgaria and Poland have rejected.
Russia’s energy giant Gazprom said in a statement that it had not received any payments from Poland and Bulgaria since April 1 and that it would suspend supplies from Wednesday.
If countries take gas reserved for other European consumers, European supplies will be reduced by that amount, the company said.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told the Polish parliament that he sees the suspension as retaliation for new sanctions against Russia imposed by Warsaw in the war in Ukraine.
Morawiecki promised that Poland would not suffer a cessation. He said the country was protected from the energy crisis thanks to years of efforts to protect gas from other countries.
MEPs stood up and applauded when he said Russia’s “gas blackmail” would not affect Poland.
The new sanctions, announced on Tuesday, target 50 Russian oligarchs and companies, including Gazprom. A few hours later, Poland said it had received a report that Gazprom had cut off gas supplies because it did not protect it.
Polish gas company PGNiG said gas supplies from the Yamal pipeline were cut off on Wednesday, Gazprom warned.
Bulgaria said on Tuesday that Gazprom had also announced that the country’s gas supply would be cut off at the same time.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Kirill Petkov called Gazprom’s suspension of gas supplies to his country “a serious breach of their contract” and “blackmail”.
“We will not follow such a racket,” he added.
Russia’s move has raised wider concerns that other countries could be targeted in the future as Western countries bolster their support for Ukraine amid a war that has been going on for three months.
EU officials held emergency talks on Wednesday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Gazprom’s statement was “another attempt by Russia to use gas as a tool of blackmail”.
The Greek government is to hold its special session in Athens. Greece’s next scheduled payment to Gazprom is scheduled for May 25, and the government must decide whether to comply with the ruble’s request to complete the transaction.
Greece is upgrading its liquefied natural gas storage capacity and has a contingency plan for the transition from gas to diesel for some industry sectors as an emergency power source. It also changed the plan to reduce national coal production over the next two years.
Europe is not without action in the debate; At current prices, he pays Russia $ 400 million a day for gas, money that Putin will lose money.
In theory Russia could sell its oil elsewhere, such as India and China, because the oil is mainly carried by ships. But the pipeline network, which carries gas from large fields to the Yamal Peninsula in northwestern Siberia, is not connected to pipelines coming to China. Russia, on the other hand, has only limited capacity to export supercooled liquefied natural gas by ship.
Russia’s gas accounted for almost 45% of Poland’s total gas consumption before it closed. But Poland is heavily dependent on coal for heating its homes and for the fuel industry, where gas makes up approximately 7% of the country’s total energy mix.
Russia’s supplies to Poland should be finished by the end of this year. Poland has been working for many years to get supplies from other countries.
A few years ago, the country opened its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Swinouj on the Baltic Sea coast. The Norwegian oil pipeline is expected to enter operation this year.
The main consumers of gas in Bulgaria are district heating companies and only 120,000 households depend on gas.
Bulgaria’s energy minister said his country could meet the needs of consumers in at least a month.
“An alternative offer is available and Bulgaria hopes that alternative routes and routes will also be provided at the EU level,” said Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov.
Fatih Birol, head of the Paris -based International Energy Agency, called Russia’s move “a weapon in energy supply”.
He said Russia’s decision “more clearly shows than ever that Europe must act quickly to reduce its reliance on Russia’s energy.”
This was announced by Toshkov from Bulgaria. Monica Shislovska contributed in Warsaw, John Gambrel in Lviv, Ukraine, Loren Cook in Brussels and Derek Gatopoulos in Athens.
Source: Huffpost
