Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) The European Commission condemned Russian Gazprom energy company’s decision to stop supplying some EU member states on Wednesday.
EC President Ursula von der Leyen described Gazprom’s move as blackmail and added that the EU was preparing a coordinated response, Reuters reports.
Gazprom pointed out earlier on Wednesday that it stopped delivering natural gas to Bulgaria and Poland as the two EU member states did not pay for deliveries in roubles.
In response to EU sanctions over the war in Ukraine, Moscow announced it would demand payments for gas from unfriendly countries in roubles.
After Moscow announced its demand for rouble payments, the EC advised EU companies to continue paying for gas in line with their contracts with Gazprom and added that switching payments to roubles could violate sanctions imposed on Russia.
“The announcement by Gazprom that it is unilaterally stopping delivery of gas to customers in Europe is yet another attempt by Russia to use gas as an instrument of blackmail,” von der Leyen noted.
She added that the move is unacceptable and unjustified, “and it shows once again the unreliability of Russia as a gas supplier.”
The bloc was prepared for this according to von der Leyen, and will diversify its supplies to address the energy crunch. She stressed that EU member states must have contingency plans for energy supply shocks and added that EU gas storage is about 32% full.
EU plans response
Von der Leyen noted that representatives of the gas industry and EU national governments held a meeting earlier on Wednesday to coordinate the response to Russia’s move.
Commenting on the situation on Wednesday, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer pointed out that Bulgaria and Poland refused to use Russia’s payment system.
According to Russia’s new model, buyers from unfriendly countries can pay for gas in euro or US dollar through Gazprombank, which converts the payments to roubles and pays Gazprom.
The EC noted that EU companies can use the new payment model legally if their euro deposits in Gazprombank mark the completion of their contractual obligations, rather than the subsequent conversion and payment in roubles.
According to analysts, the payment issue could further divide the EU in its approach to Russia.
