Russian gas giant Gazprom confirmed on Tuesday that it had “completely” cut off gas supplies to the Netherlands. for not having paid his April bill in rubles through the GasTerra company, the company reported.
“Gazprom has completely cut off gas supplies to GasTerra, from the Netherlands, due to non-payment in rubles,” the Russian company wrote in a brief message on its Telegram account.
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Gazprom has already cut off gas to Poland, Bulgaria and Finland for the same reason.
The company explained that, at the end of the business day on May 30, Gazprom Export did not receive payment for gas supplies in April from GasTerra in accordance with the decree of the Russian president of March 31, which obliges gas companies from countries “unfriendly” – including all members of the European Union (EU) – to pay in rubles for Russian gas.
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The scheme devised by Russian President Vladimir Putin to circumvent Western sanctions requires foreign clients to open two special accounts at Gazprombank.
In one they must enter the money for the Russian gas received in euros or dollars, which is then converted into rubles on the Moscow Stock Exchange and transferred to the second account in the Russian national currency.
Gazprom recalled that “payments for gas supply from April 1 must be made in rubles using new details, of which the contractors were informed in a timely manner.”
The Dutch gas trader GasTerra announced the day before that it decided not to comply with those requirements and announced that Gazprom would cut off gas supplies on Tuesday.
“GasTerra will not accept Gazprom’s demands for payment. This is because doing so would risk breaching the sanctions imposed by the EU. and also because there are too many financial and operational risks associated with the required transaction,” he said in a statement.
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“In particular, the opening of accounts in Moscow under Russian law and their control by the Russian regime represent too great a risk for the Groningen company,” he added.
Payments for gas supply from April 1 must be made in rubles
The cessation of supply by Gazprom means that, between now and October 1, the date on which the contract with the Russian gas company ends, approximately 2,000 million cubic meters of contracted gas will not be delivered.
“GasTerra has anticipated this by buying gas from other suppliers,” he said.
He added that he has repeatedly urged Gazprom to respect the contractually agreed payment structure and supply obligations, but to no avail.
In the face of the Netherlands, Poland, Bulgaria and Finland, which refuse to accept the payment scheme proposed by Russia, more than 20 companies have opened special accounts in Gazprombank, including the Italian Eni, the German Uniper consortium and the French Engie, according to the official agency TASS.
EFE
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