Initially, it was unclear why the gas supply had stopped, but at the beginning of the evening, the Polish gas company PGNiG announced that the shutdown was the result of the refusal to pay for Russian natural gas in rubles. On Friday, the unofficial ultimatum that Moscow issued at the end of March to European countries to pay with rubles, instead of euros and dollars, expired.
PGNiG says that Gazprom has announced that it will officially stop supplying gas from 8 a.m. Wednesday morning. However, the supply had already stopped on Tuesday afternoon, according to data from the European gas network Entsog. The Polish gas company speaks of a breach of contract by Gazprom and says it will come up with a claim for damages.
The Yamal gas pipeline is also connected to Germany, which may now also be partially deprived of Russian gas. About 15 percent of the natural gas from Russia comes to Europe via this connection. The gas pipeline that runs through Ukraine was still operational on Tuesday. There is also supply to Germany via the Nordstream 1 pipeline through the Baltic Sea.
The Polish government met on Tuesday for crisis deliberations. Like other European member states, the country refuses to comply with Putin’s demand. According to Brussels, this would be in violation of the sanctions that Europe has imposed on Russia for the invasion of Ukraine.