Russian gas company Gazprom announced on Tuesday that it had suspended gas deliveries to Dutch distributor GasTerra due to its refusal to pay in rubles.
“Gazprom has completely stopped its gas deliveries to GasTerra BV [nos Países Baixos] due to your refusal to make payments in rubles“, announced the Russian giant in a statement released on the Telegram social network.
In response to the sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) for the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that buyers of Russian gas from “hostile” countries pay in rubles, under penalty of to be deprived of supply. of the product, although the signed contracts provide for payments in euros or dollars.
Russia insists on payment for Russian gas in rubles by “hostile” countries
The GasTerra group rejected such a measure and demanded compliance with contractual obligations, noting that payments in rubles present “a risk of violating the sanctions established by the EU.”
The Netherlands they depend on Russia for around 15% of their gas supplyor about six billion cubic meters per year, according to the Dutch government.
That’s less than the European average of 40%, but like other European countries, the Netherlands is trying to reduce its dependence on Russian gas.
The decision of the Russian energy giant means that two billion cubic meters of gas will not be supplied to the Dutch until October, warned GasTerra, adding that “it anticipated this situation by buying gas elsewhere.”
Russia had already cut off gas supplies, for the same reasons, to Finland, Bulgaria and Poland.
Source: Observadora
