Russia Threatens To Cut Off Gas To Poland After Country Declines To Pay In Rubles

Topline

Russian energy giant Gazprom told Poland’s main natural gas supplier PGNiG it will stop all gas flows to the country on Wednesday, the company said Tuesday, a month after Poland and many other countries rejected Russia’s demand to pay for gas in rubles.

Key Facts

Before informing Poland it would cut off supplies, Gazprom told Poland on Tuesday it had to pay for gas supplies in Russian currency, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters in Berlin, according to Bloomberg.

Morawiecki said Russia might try to “punish Poland”—which has vehemently criticized Russia for invading Ukraine—by stopping deliveries, Bloomberg reported.

PGNiG, whose contract with Russia expires at the end of the year, said in a statement it would take steps to find alternate suppliers of gas.

Poland’s gas supplies are secure, Poland’s Minister of Climate and Environment Anna Moskwa wrote in a tweet Tuesday, adding that the cutoff would not result in a shortage of gas in Polish homes.

Key Background

Poland relies on Russian imports for about 46% of its gas supplies, according to the Polish think tank Forum Energii. The Polish government has been an outspoken critic of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Morawiecki has pledged to ban all imports of Russian gas, oil and coal by the end of the year, and has pushed other European countries to do the same. Gazprom’s announcement came shortly after Poland said Tuesday it would impose sanctions on 50 Russian companies and oligarchs, including Gazprom. It also comes a month after Russian President Vladimir Putin said “unfriendly” countries would be forced to pay for Russian gas in rubles, which a host of European countries, including Poland, have said they will not do.

Big Number

10.2 billion cubic meters. That’s how much gas Gazprom is supposed to supply Poland with every year, per the two countries’ long-term contract, accounting for about 50% of the 20 billion cubic meters of gas Poland consumes annually.

Further Reading

Russia to Halt Gas to Poland on Wednesday in Major Escalation (Bloomberg)

Poland says Russia warned that gas supply will stop on Wednesday (Reuters)

Putin Plans To Make ‘Unfriendly’ Countries Purchase Russian Gas In Rubles (Forbes)