The Russian energy giant Gazprom will suspend gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria from today, both countries reported and assured that they will not suffer shortages.
“Bulgargas EAD received notification that Gazprom Export supplies will be suspended from April 27, 2022,” the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy said in a statement.
“Gazprom informed PGNiG of its intention to completely suspend supplies under the Yamal contract on April 27,” the Polish state gas company said in a statement.
However, Poland and Bulgaria, both members of NATO and the European Union, assured that there will be no shortage, as they prepared to obtain the missing gas from other sources.
There will be no shortage of gas in Polish homes,” climate minister Anna Moskwa said on Twitter. “From the first day of the war, we declared that we are ready for full independence from Russian raw materials,” she added.
Poland’s contract with Gazprom is for 10.2 million cubic meters a year, which covers about 50% of national consumption.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said gas storage facilities were 76% full and that they are ready to “get gas from elsewhere.”
Poland imports liquefied gas through a terminal on the Baltic Sea coast and also hopes to receive supplies from Norway through the Baltic Pipe project, which will be completed this year.
PGNiG assured that it would take steps to restore gas flow in accordance with the Yamal contract and that any interruption of supplies is considered a breach.
Gazprom, for its part, did not confirm the interruption of supply, but Russian news agencies quoted a senior company executive as saying that “Poland must pay for gas supplies according to the new payment procedure.”
Meanwhile, the Bulgarian government stated that it had taken “actions to find alternative arrangements for the supply of natural gas”.
Bulgaria assures that no measure to restrict consumption is planned.
After the adoption of sanctions against Russia, the Kremlin warned that gas supplies would be interrupted if they were not paid in rubles.
However, Moscow clarified that the price of gas would remain in the currency of the current contracts, most of them in euros or dollars, and that customers would have to make a simple exchange operation in Russia.
“The Bulgarian party fully fulfilled its obligations and made all the payments required by the contract in due time,” the Bulgarian government assured.
Poland imports liquefied gas through a terminal on the Baltic Sea coast and also hopes to receive supplies from Norway through the Baltic Pipe project, which will be completed this year.