No rubles – no gas: the Russian state-owned company Gazprom has stopped deliveries to the Netherlands. But there, the lack of gas is already being obtained from other sources.
According to the Russian state energy giant Gazprom, it has stopped supplying gas to the Netherlands.
«Gazprom stopped supplying gas to the company GasTerra B.V. (Netherlands) because they were not paid in rubles,” the company announced on Tuesday.
In its decision, Gazprom referred to President Vladimir Putin’s decree, according to which all buyers of Russian gas from so-called unfriendly countries, which Moscow sees as belonging to the EU countries, must convert their payments to rubles from April. Gazprom emphasized that business partners were informed about this change in good time. As of Monday evening, Gazprom Export had not received any ruble payments from its Dutch partner, GasTerra B.V.
In 2021, Russia exported 6.67 billion cubic meters of natural gas to the Netherlands. This corresponds to around 16 percent of consumption there. According to GasTerra, it has foreseen the current delivery stop and has already obtained the missing gas volume from other sources.
Prior to the Netherlands, Gazprom had suspended supplies to Poland, Bulgaria and Finland because those countries also refused to switch to the new payment scheme. German energy suppliers continue to obtain gas from Russia.
