Russia cutting off gas to Poland, Bulgaria is ‘blackmail,’ EU chief says

Russia cut supplies to Poland and Bulgaria for failing to pay for gas in rubles, the currency Vladimir Putin has ordered payments in over the West's response to the Ukraine war.

The EU’s chief executive on Wednesday branded as “blackmail” Russian giant Gazprom’s move to halt supplies to some European customers, but said the bloc was working on a coordinated response to Moscow’s escalation.

Gazprom said it had cut supplies to Poland and Bulgaria for failing to pay for gas in rubles, Moscow’s toughest response yet to sanctions imposed by the West over the conflict in Ukraine.

“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,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

“This is unjustified and unacceptable. And it shows once again the unreliability of Russia as a gas supplier,” she said in a statement.

Von der Leyen said the EU was prepared for this scenario, and would continue its work to ensure alternative supplies of gas and that gas storage is filled. EU rules require all countries to have a contingency plan to cope with a gas supply shock. EU gas storage is currently 32 per cent full.

The EU was working on a coordinated response to Russia’s escalation, von der Leyen said, and the bloc’s “gas coordination group” of representatives from national governments and the gas industry was meeting on Wednesday morning.

Poland’s climate ministry said on Tuesday its energy supplies were secure and there was no need to limit supply to consumers.

Brussels has sought a common response from EU countries to Russia’s demand for ruble payments, after Moscow in March issued a decree proposing that energy buyers open accounts at Gazprombank to make payments in euros or dollars, which would then be converted to rubles.