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The list of European countries to which Russia is cutting off gas supplies continues to grow.
The Russian state company Gazprom announced this Tuesday that it will stop, as of June 1, shipments of this fuel to the Shell Energy company, for supplies in Germany; and to the Orsted company, in Denmark, due to its refusal to make payments in rubles, as required by Moscow.
A similar measure and for the same reasons began to be applied this May 31 to the company GasTerra, from the Netherlands.
The Danish company Orsted, which had already warned that it could suffer a cut in supply from Moscow, announced on Tuesday that it will try to fill the gap by going to the European energy market.
“Gas in Denmark must, to a large extent, be purchased on the European gas market. We hope this will be possible,” Orsted chief executive Mads Nipper said in a statement.
The Danish company highlighted that Moscow’s decision will not immediately jeopardize Denmark’s gas supply.
A letter sent to Parliament by the Danish Minister of Energy, Dan Jorgensen, indicates that gas deposits in that country are currently at 55% of their capacity, which would allow the needs of all customers in that country to be covered and from Sweden for five months.
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In the case of Germany, Gazprom said it had been notified of Shell Energy’s refusal to pay in rubles for gas sent to Germany, and noted that the contract between the two companies provides for the supply of up to 1.2 billion cubic meters a year.
Nevertheless, ehe cut off shipments to Shell Energy will not mean lsuspension of all Russian gas supplies to Germany.
Uniper and RWE, two of the main German energy companies, agreed to pay for shipments of this fuel using the mechanism designed by Moscow and that allows payments to be made in euros that are then converted into rubles.
“Like other German and European companies, Uniper has changed the method of payment for gas deliveries from Russia. Uniper pays in euros, according to the new payment mechanism,” the company said in response to a query by Archyde.com.
As of May 31, the Netherlands joined the group of European states to which Moscow suspended gas supplies after the start of the war in Ukraine.
Both the GasTerra energy company, in which the Dutch state has a 50% shareholding, and the Russian state gas company Gazprom, had warned this Monday about this cut.
GasTerra, which buys and markets gas on behalf of the Netherlands, reported that it had contracted with other suppliers to purchase the 2 billion cubic meters of gas it initially expected to receive from Gazprom by October this year.
“We understand GasTerra’s decision not to accept the payment terms unilaterally imposed by Gazprom. This decision will have no material consequences on the supply of gas to Dutch householdsDutch Energy Minister Rob Jetten wrote on Twitter.
Since the invasion of Ukraine in February, Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to demand that “unfriendly foreign countries” pay rubles for the gas that Moscow sells to them under threat of cutting off supplies.
In the case of the Netherlands, GasTerra said it had decided not to adopt the mechanism demanded by Moscow, which involved setting up accounts that would be paid in euros and then exchanged for rubles.
The company warned that this type of operation could violate the sanctions of the European Union against Russia and that, in addition, the payment scheme involved many financial and operational risks.
Gazprom, for its part, assured that the suspension of gas supply will continue until the payments do not meet the parameters required by Moscow.
Last April, Gazprom suspended gas supplies to Poland, Bulgaria and Finland for the same reasons.
Ruble payments benefit the Russian economy and would support its currency in a tough economic environment due to mounting international sanctions against it.
image source, EPA
European Council chief Charles Michel said the sanctions would put “maximum pressure” on Russia.
The announcements about cutting Russian gas supplies to companies in Germany and Denmark came hours after the European Union reached an agreement to ban two-thirds of imports of Russian crude into the bloc.
Its about sixth package of sanctions approved against Moscow by the 27 member countries of the European Union.
As explained by the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, these measures will limit a “huge source of financing” for the Russian war machine.
He added that you are measures will put “maximum pressure on Russia to end the war”.
EU members spent hours arguing to resolve their differences over a ban on Russian oil imports, with Hungary as its main opponent.
The ban on imports of Russian oil was initially proposed by the European Commission.
But resistance, particularly from Hungary, stopped the EU’s troublesome latest round of sanctions.
Other landlocked countries, such as Slovakia and the Czech Republic, have also asked for more time due to their dependence on Russian oil. Bulgaria, already cut off from Russian gas by Gazprom, had also sought exceptions.
The new sanctions agreed by the EU also include the exclusion of Sberbank, Russia’s main lending bank, from the Swift international financial messaging system.
This network is the main messaging system used by banks to make fast and secure cross-border payments.
It is used by 11,000 banking entities in more than 200 countries and allows international trade to flow smoothly.
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