Gas prices soar 20% as EU slams Russia’s supply cut as ‘blackmail’
EUROPEAN Commission President Ursulavon derLeyen todaycondemned Russia’s decision to cut gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria as “blackmail”.
Russian energy giant Gazprom is halting supplies to the two eastern European countries after they refused to pay for the shipments in roubles.
Polish gas company PGNiG confirmed this morning that Gazprom has already turned off the taps, but insisted that customers were still getting the fuel in line with their needs.
It was unclear whether supplies to Bulgaria had been stopped.
European gas prices rose by 20 per cent this morning while the euro fell to a five-year l ow against the dollar as markets reacted to the news.
“Gazprom’s announcement is another attempt by Russia to blackmail us with gas,” Ms von der Leyen tweeted. “We are prepared for this scenario. We are mapping out our coordinated EU response.”
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said the decision would add to Russia’s status as an economic and political pariah. He told Sky News: “It [halting gas supply] will have a... very damaging effect on Russia because it is becoming... more and more, not just a political pariah, but an economic pariah.” EU countries currently import about 40 per cent of their gas from Russia but Brussels has announced plans to cut that by twothirds within a year.
The US has declared a complete ban on Russian oil, gas and coal imports while Britain has said it intends to phase out Russian oil by the end of the year, with gas to follow as soon as possible. Gazprom’s move to cut supplies to the two Nato member countries is seen as retaliation for the sweeping sanctions imposed on individuals and companies associated with the Putin regime aimed at destabilising Russia’s economy following the invasion of Ukraine.
Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said Gazprom’s move “makes it clearer than ever that Europe needs to move quickly to reduce its reliance on Russian energy”. Poland has insisted it is well-prepared after working for years to reduce its reliance on Russian energy. In Bulgaria, which gets over 90 per cent of its gas from Russia, officials said they were working to find other sources, such as from Azerbaijan.
It came as Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, inset, was set to say Britain and other Western powers should provide warplanes to Ukraine as part of long-term military support.