The European Union (EU) will not pay your gas purchases a Russia in rublesand therefore must prepare for a supply break, a senior source from the European Comission at the end of a meeting of energy ministers.
The European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simsonsaid that the Russian demand to receive payments in rubles is a “unilateral and unjustified modification of contracts, and therefore it is legitimate to reject it.”
According to Simson, approximately 97% of the contracts signed by european companies for purchase of gas in Russian and which specify the currency of payment refer to the euro or the US dollar.
Simson said that the payments due in mid-May will be made “with respect to the contracts.”
“We have to prepare for a supply outage,” Simson said.
This was the first meeting of European energy ministers after Russia cut off its gas supplies to Poland Y Bulgaria because those two countries refused to pay in rubles for their liquefied gas imports.
At the end of the meeting, Simson noted that the European Comission communicated to the countries of the bloc his conviction that paying for Russian gas purchases in rubles represents a break with the sanctions adopted by the EU against Russia.
However, he added that at the request of the ministers themselves at Monday’s meeting, the Commission “will provide more detailed guidance on what companies can and cannot do within the framework of sanctions.”
The issue became a huge headache for the EU: practically 40% of the Liquid gas used by European industry comes from Russia.
The possibility of Russia cutting off gas supplies to countries that refuse to pay in rubles is flashing warning lights, and to avoid such a scenario, countries in the bloc are seeking clarification on their options.
“I have asked for a clear explanation on how to proceed,” said the Minister of Industry and Commerce of the Czech Republic, Josef Sikela.
“Very complex” process
Khashajar Farmanbarenergy minister of Swedenin turn, pointed out that “the clarifications are still under way, but it is a very complex process.”
“Paying in one currency is one thing, but if the operation involves the central bank of another country, it becomes a different package, and it will be difficult to manage that. I think the (European) Commission is doing its best to clarify it,” he added.
For her part, the Polish Minister for Climate Action and the Environment, Anna Moscowstated that the European Commission “confirmed that paying in rubles is unacceptable.”
At the meeting, he said, the Baltic countries (Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia), Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland assured that they will not pay for their purchases of Russian gas in rubles.
Arriving at the meeting in Brussels, Moskwa had lamented the Russian decision to cut gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, for refusing to pay in rubles.
In response to Russia’s gesture, “we call for an immediate embargo on Russian oil and gas,” he added.
As a result of the sanctions adopted by the European Union Russian hydrocarbon company Gazprom It went on to require that payments be made in the Russian currency, in a procedure that involves the country’s central bank and thus evades sanctions.
The ministers also discussed a gradual halt to Russian oil purchases, as part of an eventual sixth sanctions package.
However, no decision was made at this meeting on the matter.
“A new package of sanctions is in preparation,” the French Minister for Ecological Transition had said at the beginning of the meeting, barbar pompili.