The Russian group Gazprom will suspend from Wednesday its deliveries of gas to Bulgaria and Poland, announced Tuesday evening these two countries which say they have prepared for it.
“On April 26, 2022, Gazprom informed (the Polish gas company) PGNiG of its intention to completely suspend deliveries under the Yamal contract (…) on April 27, the Polish company said in a press release.
“Today (Tuesday), Bulgargas EAD received notification that deliveries from Gazprom Export will be suspended from April 27, 2022,” the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy also said a little later, while this country of Balkans is more than 90% dependent on Russian gas.
These two members of NATO and the European Union (EU), however, say they are prepared to obtain the missing gas from other sources.
“There will be no shortage of gas in Polish homes,” Polish Climate Minister Anna Moskwa wrote on Twitter. “Since the first day of the war, we have declared that we are ready for complete independence from Russian raw materials,” she added.
“Actions to find alternative arrangements for the supply of natural gas and to deal with the situation” have been undertaken, underlined for its part the Bulgarian government in a press release, ensuring that “at the present time” no measure is planned. restriction of consumption.
After the introduction of sanctions once morest Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin warned EU countries that their gas supply would be cut off if they did not pay in rubles from Russian accounts.
Moscow clarified, however, that the price of gas remained denominated in the currency of the current contracts, most often in euros or dollars, and that customers would have to carry out a simple exchange transaction in Russia.
“The Bulgarian side has fully fulfilled its obligations and made all payments required under the contract in due time,” the government reacted.
And to denounce “the new two-step payment procedure proposed by the Russian side”.
“It does not comply with the existing contract until the end of this year and presents significant risks for the Bulgarian side, in particular that of making payments without receiving any gas delivery from the Russian side,” he said. -he adds.