2022-06-01.
Russia is cutting off more gas supplies to Europe. On Tuesday, the state energy company Gazprom cut off some gas to the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. This came hours after the EU banned most Russian oil imports. (Democracy Now)
Denmark
Denmark’s largest energy company said Russia cut off its gas supply Wednesday because it refused to pay in rubles, the latest escalation over European energy amid the war in Ukraine.
Russia previously halted natural gas supplies to Finland, Poland and Bulgaria for refusing a demand to pay in rubles. And on Tuesday, the tap was turned off to the Netherlands.
Danish energy company Ørsted said it still expected to be able to serve its customers.
“We stand firm in our refusal to pay in rubles, and we’ve been preparing for this scenario,” Ørsted CEO Mads Nipper said. ”The situation underpins the need of the EU becoming independent of Russian gas by accelerating the build-out of renewable energy.”
In response to Western sanctions imposed against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree saying foreign buyers needed to pay in rubles for Russian gas as of April 1.
Moscow offered customers receiving its natural gas to establish an account in dollars or euros at Russia’s third-largest bank, Gazprombank, then a second account in rubles. The importer would pay the gas bill in euros or dollars as specified in contracts and direct the bank to exchange the money for rubles. (AP)
Netherlands
Gazprom extended its gas cuts on Tuesday by stopping supply to GasTerra, which buys and trades gas on behalf of the Dutch government.
GasTerra said it had found contracts elsewhere for the supply of the 2bn cubic metres of gas it had been expecting to receive from Gazprom between now and October. (The Guardian)