Gazprom Says Poland Buys Russian Gas From Germany

Poland is still purchasing Russian gas—via reverse flows from Germany—after Gazprom cut off direct gas supply to Poland on Wednesday, the Russian gas giant said on Thursday, as carried by the Russian news outlet, RT.

"This week Poland refused to pay for the Russian gas with the new terms, in rubles. It was grandly announced that they no longer needed Russian gas and would not buy it anymore," Gazprom's official representative Sergey Kupriyanov was quoted as saying.

"But in fact Poland keeps buying Russian gas after the direct supply was halted. It now buys the gas from Germany, and it comes back to Poland with the reverse flow via the Yamal-Europe pipeline," he added.

On Wednesday, the day on which Russia halted gas supply to Poland, as well as to Bulgaria, flows on the Yamal-Europe pipeline from Germany to Poland jumped, according to pipeline operator Gascade cited by Reuters.

Late on Tuesday, Poland and Bulgaria said they had been notified by Gazprom that Russian gas supply to the two countries would be cut off as of Wednesday. Gazprom says supply was stopped "due to absence of payments in rubles."

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki described the halt of Russian supply as "a direct attack" on Poland and vowed that the country would not give in to "this blackmail." 

In Bulgaria's case, Bulgaria is required to pay in U.S. dollars for Russian gas under its contract with Gazprom, and Russia's demand for payment in rubles is a breach of that contract and adds risks to the buyer, Bulgarian Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov said on Wednesday.

"It is clear that in the current war in Ukraine, Russia uses natural gas as a political and economic weapon," Nikolov added, noting that Bulgaria will not negotiate under pressure.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said on Wednesday that he had discussed the situation with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a phone call and that Bulgaria and Greece would continue to work together for energy security and diversification, which is of strategic importance to both countries and the region. Bulgaria and Greece are confident that the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria, a pipeline to diversify gas supply away from Russia, will be completed on time this summer, Petkov added.

Following Gazprom's halt of supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, the European Commission and Bulgaria agreed on Thursday to set up in Sofia a first regional taskforce as part of the EU's Energy Purchase Platform for gas and electricity. 

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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