Posted29 avril 2022, 07:00
LUXEMBOURG – There is no question of paying gas bills in rubles, explains the Minister of Energy. A crisis strategy is envisaged.
The payment of Russian gas in rubles is “unacceptable” and both Luxembourg and the EU intend to “respect the contracts in force, with payments in euros or dollars”, indicated Thursday, Claude Turmes (Déi Gréng), Minister of Energy, in response to a question from MP Paul Galles (CSV). The question is even more burning since Russia cut off supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, because of their refusal to settle in Russian currency.
“This is a scenario we had been preparing for for several weeks,” the minister said Wednesday evening in the House, in response to an intervention by Jessie Thill, MP and party comrade. Luxembourg would be less concerned, because “less dependent on Russian gas”. For gas supply, the Grand Duchy forms an alliance with Belgium on the markets and the share of gas that comes from Russia is estimated at 13.8%.
Risks of supply disruption
The environmental minister also mentioned a “shedding plan”. Asked by The essential, the ministry indicates that it “has existed for many years”. Intended to manage a supply problem, whether geopolitical or technical, it would consist in limiting consumption for certain players. “A hierarchy of actors is established, some being considered a priority, while others would receive less gas,” says a spokesperson.
EU countries would all work to reduce dependence on Moscow. Poland, which “has built a terminal to accommodate liquefied gas” and has alternative sources, “is doing everything to completely dispense with Russian gas at the end of the year”, Claude Turmes told the deputies. “At the European level, we can plan an embargo on Russian gas within two or three years, so that Vladimir Putin no longer has an income. He knows it”.
In the meantime, Luxembourg, which does not import gas directly from Russia but receives it via intermediaries, is exposed “to a risk of a supply disruption”. A partner may indeed “no longer be able to supply gas if he does not pay in rubles”, recognizes Claude Turmes.
