Russia is stopping natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.
Officials in Warsaw said gas shipments through the Yamal-Europe pipeline are expected to stop Wednesday morning.
Poland’s state gas company, PGNiG, on Tuesday said it had been informed of the move by Russian gas giant Gazprom.
Gazprom also informed Bulgaria’s state gas company Bulgargaz that it will stop supplying gas as of Wednesday, according to the country’s energy ministry.
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It comes after the President of Russia Vladimir Putin It said last month that “unfriendly” foreign buyers would have to pay state-owned Gazprom in rubles instead of dollars and euros, something the international community has refused to do.
Anna Moskwa, Poland’s climate minister, confirmed that the country was prepared for such a situation after years of efforts to reduce its dependence on Russian energy sources.
She said the country has been effectively independent when it comes to Russian gas for a while.
“There will be no shortage of gas in Polish homes,” Moskwa tweeted before repeating that message at a news conference.
“The right diversification strategies we have put in place allow us to feel safe in this situation,” she said.
The Yamal pipeline connects Russia’s natural gas fields in the Yamal Peninsula and Western Siberia with Poland and Germany, via Belarus, about 2,552 miles long.
Poland receives about nine billion cubic meters of Russian gas every year.
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The European network of gas transmission system operators has published flow charts on its website showing a dramatic drop in gas flows at the entry points in Kondratki, a town in the east of Brazil. Lan and Vysokaye, in Belarus.
Gazprom is quoted as saying that Poland must now pay for its gas supplies under a new procedure by the Russian news agency Tass, but the Russian company did not confirm the cessation of gas supplies.
Europe imports large amounts of natural gas from Russia for home heating, electricity generation and the fuel industry – and imports continue despite the war in Ukraine.
About 60% of gas imports are paid for in euros and the rest in dollars.
European leaders responded to Mr. Putin’s demand to pay in rubles by saying they would not comply – arguing that the request violated the terms of their contract and sanctions against Russia. .
PGNiG has also said that Russia’s claim to be paid in rubles is a violation of the Yamal contract.
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