Moscow: Russian energy giant Gazprom announced on Wednesday that it had completely suspended gas supplies to Bulgaria’s largest natural gas distribution company Bulgargaz and Polish oil and gas company PGNiG, as the companies failed to pay for gas in rubles.
As of the end of the business day on April 26, Gazprom Export had not received payments for gas supplies in April from Bulgargaz and PGNiG in rubles.
“Gazprom has completely suspended gas supplies to Bulgargaz (Bulgaria) and PGNiG (Poland) due to non-payment in rubles … Gazprom Export has notified Bulgargaz and PGNiG of the suspension of gas supplies from April 27 until the payment is made in accordance with the procedure established by the decree (of Russian President Vladimir Putin],” the company said in a statement.
The energy giant added that it will reduce transit to third countries if Bulgaria and Poland begin to withdraw gas from the transit flow without authorization. Meanwhile, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that Russia’s decision to suspend gas supplies to Bulgaria will not affect transit to Hungary.
“I would like to assure everyone that the refusal to supply gas to Bulgaria does not mean the termination of transit through Bulgaria. Of course, tomorrow, we will also consult with our Bulgarian partners, but so far, all participants have confirmed this information,” Szijjarto said, as quoted by the hirado.hu news portal.
Natural gas supplies to Hungary are running in accordance with the relevant contract between the sides and schedule, the minister added.
