The logo of the Gazprom group at a petrol station in Moscow, May 11, 2022 (AFP/Archives/Natalia KOLESNIKOVA)
The Russian gas company Gazprom will suspend deliveries to Dutch supplier GasTerra, partly owned by the Dutch state, from Tuesday because it refused to pay in rubles, the Dutch firm announced on Monday.
“Gazprom has announced that it will interrupt the supply as of May 31, 2022,” GasTerra said in a statement, while stressing that it had “anticipated this by buying elsewhere”.
After the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine on February 24 and the imposition of Western sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 31 demanded that buyers of Russian gas from “unfriendly” countries pay in rubles from accounts in Russia on pain of being deprived of supplies.
“GasTerra repeatedly urged Gazprom to adhere to the contractually agreed payment structure and delivery obligations, unfortunately to no avail,” the company explained.
“GasTerra does not comply with these payment requirements”, she added, stressing that these present “a risk of violation of the sanctions drawn up by the EU”, but also “financial and operational risks”.
The Russian energy giant’s decision means that 2 billion cubic meters of gas will not be supplied to the Netherlands by October, GasTerra said, adding that it “anticipated this by buying gas elsewhere”.
The Dutch state directly owns a 10% stake in GasTerra and an additional 40% through the state-owned gas company EBN. The rest is owned by energy giants Shell and Esso.
The Netherlands currently uses around 40 billion cubic meters of natural gas, of which around 6 billion cubic meters came from Russia according to the government.
The Dutch government said it “understands” GasTerra’s decision not to comply with Gazprom’s “unilateral” request.
“This decision has no consequences for the physical gas supply of Dutch households,” Dutch Climate and Energy Minister Rob Jetten said on Twitter.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, on his arrival in Brussels for a European summit, May 30, 2022 (AFP / JOHN THYS)
The Netherlands is the latest in a string of European countries to be hit by a Russian gas cut, with Finland seeing its supplies cut in May.
The Dutch depend on Russia for around 15% of their gas supplies, or some six billion cubic meters a year, according to the government.
This is less than the European average of 40%, but like other European countries, the Netherlands is trying to reduce its dependence on Russian energy.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, in Brussels for a European summit where leaders are struggling to agree on a Russian oil embargo, insisted his country had no energy security problem.
“I think there is no big problem regarding Dutch energy security, of course we are all working to ensure that we remain stable in terms of energy supply,” he told reporters. .
The Dutch government has already delayed the closure of a huge gas field in the northern province of Groningen, which has suffered repeated earthquakes due to gas extraction, to deal with the energy crisis.
© 2022 AFP
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