On Wednesday, Russia launched what observers called a “gas war” after Russian energy giant Gazprom cut off supplies to Bulgaria and Poland, drawing condemnation from the US and Europe.
And Gazprom stopped gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland due to non-payment by the two countries of payments for fuel in rubles, due to the escalation of the economic war with Europe, in response to tough sanctions imposed by the West because of the war in Ukraine.
Gazprom, which is owned by Russia and supplies about 40 percent of Europe’s gas, has also warned that gas transit through Poland and Bulgaria will stop if it is seized illegally. And extend the pipelines that run through two countries – Germany, Hungary and Serbia.
Fears the move will affect more countries, especially Germany, Europe’s main industrial power, which has relied on Russian gas to cover more than half of its imports in 2021.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered European countries to pay for gas in rubles, his main and most sweeping response to Western sanctions, which included freezing Russian assets valued at hundreds of billions of dollars and severely isolating Moscow from the Western economic system.
America condemns the use of energy as a weapon
The White House said on Wednesday that Russia is mainly using energy as a “weapon”, cutting off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.
“Unfortunately, this is a predictable example of what it means to use energy as a weapon,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.
European response
European Union Energy Commissioner Kadri Simpson said Wednesday that the European Commission recommends that EU countries stick to the euro or the dollar in existing gas contracts with Russia and not pay for gas in rubles.
“There is a clear directive for companies to stick to existing contracts and not settle for payments in rubles,” Simpson said during a US-EU energy meeting.
Today, the European Commission accused Moscow of blackmailing this move, but added that the Russian payment system can be used without violating sanctions imposed by the European Union.
Warsaw and Sofia, for their part, said the suspension was a breach of contract by Gazprom, the world’s largest natural gas company.
Notably, Europe does not have many options, given the paucity of the global gas market even before the crisis escalated. Europe relies on pipelines for much of its gas supply, and European or North African producing countries connected to the network cannot increase production.
LNG supplies from other, more distant suppliers are usually formalized under long-term contracts. The US has offered more liquefied natural gas to European countries, but supplies are not enough.
Even if Europe got more LNG, it wouldn’t have the capacity to turn it back into gas.
