European nations accuse Russia of natural gas ‘blackmail’


POKROVSK, Ukraine –

Polish and Bulgarian leaders accused Moscow of using natural gas to blackmail their countries after Russia’s state-controlled energy company said it would stop supplying the two European nations on Wednesday.

The gas cut came after Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that “enemy” countries would have to start paying for gas in rubles, Russia’s currency, which Bulgaria and Poland refused to do. .

Russian energy giant Gazprom said in a statement that it had not received any payments from Poland and Bulgaria since April 1 and would suspend deliveries from Wednesday.

If countries divert gas destined for other European customers, deliveries to Europe will be reduced by that amount, the company said.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told Poland’s parliament that he believes the suspension was revenge for new sanctions against Russia imposed by Warsaw over the war in Ukraine.

Morawiecki promised that Poland would not be intimidated by the cut. He said the country was safe from an energy crisis thanks to years of efforts to secure gas from other countries.

Lawmakers rose to their feet and applauded when he said Russia’s “gas blackmail” would have no effect on Poland.

The new sanctions, announced Tuesday, targeted 50 Russian oligarchs and companies, including Gazprom. Hours later, Poland said it had received notice that Gazprom was cutting off its gas supply for failing to meet the demand to pay in Russian rubles.

Poland’s gas company PGNiG said gas supplies from the Yamal pipeline were stopped early on Wednesday, as Gazprom warned.

Bulgaria said on Tuesday that Gazprom had also informed it that the country’s gas supplies would end at the same time.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov called Gazprom’s suspension of gas deliveries to his country a “serious breach of its contract” and “blackmail.”

“We will not succumb to such a racket,” he added.

Russia’s move raised broader concerns that other countries could be targeted next as Western countries increase their support for Ukraine amid a war now in its third month.

European Union officials held emergency talks on Wednesday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Gazprom’s announcement “is yet another attempt by Russia to use gas as an instrument of blackmail.”

The Greek government was to hold its own emergency meeting in Athens. Greece’s next scheduled payment to Gazprom is due on May 25 and the government must decide whether to comply with the demand to complete the transaction in rubles.

Greece is increasing its liquefied natural gas storage capacity and has contingency plans to switch various industrial sectors from gas to diesel as an emergency power source. It has also reversed a program to cut domestic coal production over the next two years.

Europe is not without influence in the dispute; at current prices, it pays Russia about $400 million a day for gas, money that Putin would lose with a complete cut.

In theory, Russia can sell its oil elsewhere, such as India and China, because the oil moves mainly by ship. But the network of pipelines that transports gas from huge deposits on the Yamal Peninsula in northwestern Siberia does not connect with pipelines to China. And Russia only has limited facilities to export supercooled liquefied gas by ship.

Russian gas accounted for about 45% of Poland’s total gas use until the cutoff. But Poland relies much more heavily on coal to heat homes and fuel industry, with gas accounting for about 7% of the country’s overall energy mix.

Regardless, Russian supplies to Poland were expected to end by the end of this year. Poland has worked for many years to secure supplies from other countries.

Several years ago, the country opened its first liquefied natural gas, or LNG, terminal at Swinoujscie, on the Baltic Sea coast. A Norwegian pipeline is due to start operating this year.

In Bulgaria, the main consumers of gas are district heating companies and only about 120,000 households depend on gas.

The Bulgarian energy minister said that his country can meet the needs of users for at least a month.

“Alternative supplies are available, and Bulgaria hopes that alternative routes and supplies are also secured at the EU level,” Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov said.

Fatih Birol, director of the Paris-based International Energy Agency, described Russia’s move as a “weaponization of energy supplies.”

He said Russia’s decision “makes it clearer than ever that Europe needs to move quickly to reduce its dependence on Russian energy.”

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Toshkov reported from Bulgaria. Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Jon Gambrell in Lviv, Ukraine, Lorne Cook in Brussels, and Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed.

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