Gazprom halted gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria on Wednesday after both countries refused to pay the Russian energy giant in rubles, the company said in a statement.
“At the close of business on April 26, Gazprom Export did not receive payments for the supply of gas in April from Bulgaria and Poland in rubles…Gazprom has notified Bulgaria and Poland about suspending the supply of gas starting from April 27 until payments are made according to the order established by the decree,” the company said.
The “decree” refers to legislation introduced by Russian President Vladimir Putin in March, which orders gas exports to be paid for with Russia’s currency.
Poland was notified of the suspension Tuesday when its national energy company PGNiG was told by Gazprom that all supplies along the Yamal pipeline would be “entirely suspended.”
In late March, Russia announced that “unfriendly” foreign nations would need to pay for their gas in rubles starting April 1, or risk being cut off. Since then, gas shipments to the bloc have largely continued until now.
