The list of European countries that no longer receive gas from Russia is getting longer: after it was announced on Monday that Gazprom will stop deliveries to the Netherlands, the Danish supplier Ørsted and Shell Energy Europe – and therefore also Germany – will be affected tomorrow. The reason for this is again that payments are not made in rubles.
Shell said gas supplies to Germany would not be paid in Russian currency, Gazprom Export said. The maximum supply volume per year according to the contract is 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas. As reported by Ørsted, Gazprom has informed the Danish group that gas supplies will be halted at 6am on Wednesday morning.
Delivery stop a breach of contract?
Gazprom has maintained its demand that the gas be paid in rubles, but Ørsted is not contractually obliged to do so and will continue to pay in euros. The situation underscores the need for the EU to gain independence from Russian gas through the accelerated expansion of renewables, said CEO Mads Nipper.
No supply bottlenecks are expected in Denmark. According to Ørsted, Russia cannot immediately cut off gas supplies to Denmark because there is no gas pipeline leading directly from the energy superpower to the country. So Denmark can still get gas. However, this would then have to be purchased on a larger scale on the European gas market.
No rubles, no gas
In response to sanctions over Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, Moscow has ordered European countries to pay for energy in Russian currency. Otherwise, the delivery was threatened.
The Dutch gas company GasTerra announced on Monday that Gazprom will not supply two billion cubic meters of gas to the Netherlands. Previously, the energy supply for Poland, Bulgaria and Finland had been stopped.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
