“Due to non-payment in rubles”: Gazprom suspended fuel supplies to Poland and Bulgaria

On Wednesday, April 27, trading on the European energy market is accompanied by a sharp rise in gas prices.

In the first half of the day, the cost of fuel at the TTF hub in the Netherlands rose by 23.5% and for the first time since the beginning of the month reached €127.5 per MWh, or about $1,390 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Gas in Europe has noticeably risen in price after Russia completely suspended the supply of its energy resources to Poland and Bulgaria.

The corresponding decision was made "due to non-payment in rubles," Gazprom explained.

“As of the end of the business day on April 26, Gazprom Export has not received payments for gas supplies in April from Bulgargaz (Bulgaria) and PGNiG (Poland) in rubles ... Payments for gas supplied from April 1 must be made in rubles using new details, about which the counterparties were informed in a timely manner, ”Gazprom said in a statement.

Recall that since April, in Russia, on behalf of President Vladimir Putin, a new settlement procedure has been introduced for the supply of natural gas to unfriendly states.

Now Moscow accepts payment for energy raw materials only in rubles.

To do this, foreign buyers must open two special accounts with Gazprombank: in foreign currency and in rubles.

First, the money must be transferred to a foreign currency account, after which the bank on the Moscow Exchange will exchange these funds for rubles and credit them to the ruble account.

Immediately after that, the foreign partner will be able to transfer rubles directly to the gas seller.

Nevertheless, Poland and Bulgaria refused to pay Russia for gas under the new scheme.

As a result, from April 27 until the payment in rubles, fuel supplies to both countries will be suspended, Gazprom emphasized.

“Bulgaria and Poland are transit states.

In the event of unauthorized withdrawal of Russian gas from transit volumes to third countries, supplies for transit will be reduced by this volume, ”the company added.

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Note that Russia is the largest supplier of natural gas to Europe.

According to the latest data from Eurostat, in 2020 Moscow provided 41% of the EU's needs for this type of fuel.

At that time, Poland was the most active buyer of Russian gas (55% of supplies came from the Russian Federation), Germany (66%), Bulgaria (75%), Slovakia (85%), Estonia (93%), Hungary (95%), Finland ( 98%), as well as Latvia and the Czech Republic (100%).

Under the current conditions, the cessation of gas supplies from Russia can seriously complicate the situation with energy supply for Poland and Bulgaria.

Mark Goykhman, chief analyst at TeleTrade Group of Companies, shared this opinion in a conversation with RT.

“So far, both countries have gas reserves in storage, but they will last for several months.

During this time, attempts will be made to increase purchases from other sources.

In particular, Bulgaria and Poland will try to increase the import of LNG and Norwegian gas,” the expert suggested.

However, promptly replacing fuel from Russia will be problematic, says Sergey Kaufman, an analyst at FG Finam.

In his opinion, a complete reorientation of supplies may take several years.

Thus, according to the expert, in the near future Bulgaria and Poland will be forced to continue buying Russian gas, but they will not do it directly, but through other countries.

“Most likely, they will move to the so-called virtual reverse.

According to the same principle, Ukraine is buying Russian gas today, ”the interlocutor of RT explained.

consonant cluster

The gas payment scheme proposed by Moscow does not contradict the EU sanctions against Russia.

Thus, the refusal of Bulgaria and Poland to pay for fuel under the new rules is "purely political in nature."

Igor Yushkov, a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Fund, spoke about this in an interview with RT.

“For European companies, in principle, nothing changes: they sent a certain amount in euros to Russia, and they can continue to do so.

No one forces them to change euros or dollars for rubles.

For them, this procedure will be performed by Gazprombank itself.

The new payment scheme does not change the cost of gas in dollar terms.

For buyers, the price will not change,” Yushkov explained.

Some European countries and companies have already agreed to pay for Russian gas in rubles.

In particular, the Hungarian authorities announced their readiness to switch to a new settlement system.

“We have no problems paying in rubles.

If the Russians ask to pay in rubles, we will pay in rubles,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in early April.

Moscow's conditions for paying for natural gas in rubles were also approved by the Austrian oil and gas company OMV.

This was announced on Wednesday during a press conference by Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer.

According to him, a similar decision was made by the German authorities.

“We, that is OMV, have accepted the terms of payment, as has the German government.

They (conditions. -

) were found to comply with the conditions of the sanctions.

It was important for us, ”TASS quoted Nehammer as saying.

Resource Sharing

Earlier, as part of the sanctions policy, the European authorities discussed the imposition of an embargo on the import of natural gas and oil from Russia.

However, the countries of the region have not reached unity on this issue.

A number of EU states were categorically against the ban on the purchase of raw materials from Moscow.

“For European countries, the rejection of Russian gas threatens with serious problems with heating and obtaining electricity, since part of the gas is used to generate electricity.

As a result, the cost of electricity can become very high for Europeans, and heating households next winter will be even more difficult,” explained Igor Yushkov.

Against this background, the main part of Gazprom's European clients will eventually agree to buy gas under the new scheme, Sergey Kaufman is sure.

At the same time, after the cessation of fuel supplies to Bulgaria and Poland, the supply of energy raw materials in Europe will decrease.

To provide both countries with gas, the European Union will be forced to redistribute existing resources.

As a result, the fuel shortage in the region may increase, while the cost of raw materials will remain at elevated levels, the analyst believes.

“Increased energy prices are one of the main drivers of inflation in the EU.

This will likely lead to a tightening of the ECB's policy and, in a negative scenario, may become one of the reasons for a recession," Sergey Kaufman concluded.