Russia sanctions the European branch of the country’s largest gas corporation

Interfax news agency of Russia Sanctions imposed on Polish pipeline owners EuRoPol Gaz, Gazprom Germania and 29 Gazprom Germania subsidiaries in Switzerland, Hungary, the UK, France, Bulgaria, the Benelux region, the US, Romania and Singapore.

Gazprom supplies the majority of the group’s gas to Europe via the Yamal-Europe pipeline, and the company’s various operations throughout and outside Europe are essential to the European gas market as well as to the European Union. gas supply for industry and households.

Germania’s operations, based on Russian gas production, cover the entire gas value chain from transmission pipelines to storage and supply to wholesalers and retailers.

Gazprom gave up ownership of the company last month without explanation, forcing Germany’s energy grid regulator to take control of its operations. The company’s operations, controlled by the German government, include Germany’s largest gas storage facility at Rehden in Lower Saxony, with a capacity of 4 billion cubic metres.

Ministry of Economics Virtue is reviewing Russia’s announcement of Gazprom Germania and insists gas supplies are now guaranteed and continuously tested.

Gaz-System, operator of the Yamal-Europe section of the pipeline through Poland, was not immediately available for comment. EuRoPol Gaz, jointly owned by Gazprom and Poland’s largest gas company PGNiG, collects fees for transporting Russian gas through Poland.

Wingas, a subsidiary of Gazprom Germania and one of Germany’s largest gas traders, said after the German regulator took over the company that it would continue to operate under the changed parameters. change.

According to Reuters, the companies sanctioned by Russia published on the government’s website on May 11 are mostly based in countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia after the war. Ukraine and most are members of the European Union.

The impact of gas supplies to Europe, which buys more than a third of its gas from Russia, was not immediately clear after the sanctions.

However, a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on May 3 stipulates that no Russian organization is allowed to conduct transactions with those on the sanctions list, not even to perform the obligations of the Russian Federation. such entities under applicable agreements.

Putin’s decree also prohibits the export of products and raw materials to individuals and entities on a list of sanctions by Russia.

Putin considered the decree a response to the actions of the US and its allies. The United States and its allies have imposed the strongest sanctions in modern history on Russia and Russian business.

Russian President Putin has repeatedly warned that Moscow will respond accordingly. Last week, the Kremlin’s toughest economic response was cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria at the same time requesting a new payment method for European customers buying Russian gas.