Another EU country has its gas cut off by Russia, possibly Denmark in the near future
Russian gas Delivery to the Netherlands is cut from May 31, while Denmark has a similar risk after May 31.
Russia cuts gas to the Netherlands from 31.5
Russia closed the valve gas on May 31 because Dutch gas trading company GasTerra refused to pay in rubles, CNN reported.
Specifically, GasTerra said, Gazprom Russia will stop delivering gas starting May 31. That means about 2 billion cubic meters of gas under the contract between the Dutch and Russian company will not be delivered between now and early October.
GasTerra also confirmed that it was prepared for the scenario where Russia cut off gas to the Netherlands by buying gas from other sources.
Regarding Russia’s suspension of gas deliveries to the Netherlands, RT quoted Gazprom’s statement as saying, Gazprom Export will suspend gas supplies to the Netherlands’ GasTerra from May 31 due to non-payment for gas delivered in April and from refuse to pay in rubles.
“As of the end of business day 30.5 (payment period specified in the contract), Gazprom Export has not yet received payment from GasTerra for April gas supply.
Gazprom Export has informed GasTerra to stop supplying gas from May 31, 2022 until payment is made according to the procedure outlined above,” the Russian energy company said in a statement.
The Dutch company has previously announced that it does not intend to pay for gas in ruble for Gazprom Export because it would violate Western sanctions.
Danger to Denmark
Meanwhile, Danish energy company Ørsted informed on May 30 that the company is not legally obligated to pay in Russian rubles in its contract with Russian energy giant Gazprom and the payment term is Tuesday, May 31st.
“We have no contractual legal obligation to do so and we have repeatedly informed Gazprom Export that we will not do so,” the Danish company said in a statement.
“There is a risk that Gazprom Export will stop supplying gas to Orsted. This would be a breach of contract,” Orsted said in a statement.
Orsted’s due date is May 31. The Danish company announced that it will continue to pay in euros, emphasizing that the company has not opened a ruble account.
The Danish energy company Ørsted also confirmed that it was prepared for the abrupt cessation of Russian gas imports and that it had filled gas storage facilities in Denmark and Virtue.
Impact of Russia’s gas shutdown
According to the Bruegel economic organization, about 4% of Denmark’s total energy consumption and about 2% of the Netherlands’ total energy consumption are Russian gas.
In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would cut off gas to “unfriendly” countries that refused payment in Russian rubles.
Since then, Gazprom has provided solutions for gas buyers. Customers can pay in Euros or USD to an account at Russia’s Gazprombank, which will then convert the money into rubles and transfer the money to a second account to pay Russia.
Some of Europe’s biggest energy companies have already started the process of opening Russian ruble accounts. However, the European Commission has warned with this move energy companies will be in violation of the order punish Russiawhich prohibits buyers from opening accounts in rubles.
Germany, the EU’s largest economy, relies heavily on Russian gas to power households and industries. Germany has made efforts to reduce the share of Russian energy imports from 55% to 35%.
EU aims to reduce Russian gas consumption by 66% by the end of the year and completely end dependence on Russian gas by 2027.
Gazprom recently cut off gas exports to Bulgaria, Poland and Finland after these European countries refused to pay in Russian rubles.
at Blogtuan.info – Source: laodong.vn – Read the original article here