The supply of Russian gas to Poland and Bulgaria has been halted, Russia’s Gazprom announced on Wednesday morning.
In a statement carried by Russian news agencies, the firm said the supplies would be suspended as the countries had not made payments in rubles for the fuel delivery as demanded by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It said the supplies would be stopped until the payments are made.
Poland had earlier said it expected gas flows from Russia via Ukraine and Belarus to be cut at 8 a.m. (0600 GMT/UTC).
Bulgaria’s Energy Ministry had also announced that Russia’s Gazprom had said it would halt gas supplies as of Wednesday. The energy minister has said that halting its gas supply would breach the current contract, as gas deliveries for April had already been paid.
The ministry will give a news briefing on the situation later on Wednesday morning.
Austria meanwhile says Russian natural gas deliveries are continuing unrestricted, with no indication that this would change. Austria obtains 80% of its gas from Russia.
Ukraine has accused Russia of blackmailing Europe over energy to try and damage Kyiv’s allies and undermine their solidarity in taking action against Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on “unfriendly” countries to pay for gas imports in rubles, but most buyers have so far rejected the demand.
Source:DW