Blockade affects the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, which transports Russian product from the northern part of the country to Germany.
Russian state-owned Gazprom announced this Thursday (May 12, 2022) that it has suspended the transport of natural gas through the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, which passes through Poland.
The measure is part of the sanctions package decreed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday (11.mar). Among the companies mentioned is the Polish EuroPol GAZowner of the section of the gas pipeline that runs through the Eastern European country.
“A ban on transactions and payments in favor of sanctioned individuals has been established –in particular, for Gazprom– which means a ban on the use of a gas pipeline owned by EuRoPol GAZ to transport Russian gas through Poland”, Gazprom said in a note published on its Telegram channel.
The pipeline is more than 4,000 km long and can carry up to 33 billion m³ of natural gas per year from the Yamal Peninsula – through Poland and Belarus – to Germany, from where it is distributed to the rest of the European continent. The structure began to be built in 1999 and opened in 2006. It cost US$ 36 billion.
Another channel for transporting the input to Europe is the Nord Stream gas pipeline, a channel that transports natural gas from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea.
In February, the German government embargoed approval of Nord Stream 2which would double the volume of gas exports and increase the total sent by pipelines that do not pass through the territory of Ukraine.
In the statement, a representative of the Russian state company also accuses Poland of “repeatedly violate Gazprom’s rights” and having it placed on its sanctions list at the end of April, which blocked the company’s ability to “exercise rights over shares and other securities of EuRoPol GAZ and receive dividends”.
On Wednesday (May 11), Ukraine blocked part of the supply of Russian gas to European, with the Ukrainian state company GTSOU reporting that pipelines had been damaged by Russian troops. The slice represents 3% of the total consumed annually by Europe.
In addition to Bulgaria, which has already had the gas supply suspended at the end of Aprilanother country on Moscow’s radar is Finland, which will present on Sunday (May 15) the NATO membership application (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
The process will start with Sweden – as both Nordic countries jointly decided to break the policy of military neutrality adopted during the Cold War.
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