Russia: Russia, the world’s largest exporter of natural gas, has finally shaken up the global commodity market by imposing sanctions on countries helping Ukraine. Putin’s support for Poland, which has been open since the beginning of the Ukraine war, has been in Putin’s eyes, and Poland has been angered by Poland’s supply of tanks and weapons to fight the war in Ukraine this week, and has imposed sanctions on Poland.
Russia has decided to cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria. Last month, Putin issued a clear order to countries buying oil and gas from Russia that the Russian currency should be paid in rubles. European countries, however, have refused to accept Putin’s offer. As a result, Putin has decided to cut off gas supplies to Yamal under contract. The report has seen a surge in the natural gas market. European natural gas prices rose 3% in the morning session. In the European market, the benchmark index rose 3% to a record level of 15.20 euros per megawatt hour for the first time since April 1.
Poland and Bulgaria have admitted that Russian energy giant Gazprom has cut off gas supplies. Russia has decided to cut off gas supplies through the Yamal-Europe pipeline, according to Polish gas company Bhdft. According to the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy, Russia is cutting off gas supplies to Bulgaria via the Turkstream pipeline. 3
Prior to the Russia-Ukraine dispute, all European countries paid about 90 per cent in euros and the rest in dollars. After the dispute with Ukraine, Putin demanded that the payment be made entirely in rubles. In this case, the European Union (EU) has said in a statement that it will not pay in rubles, calling it a violation of pre-determined conditions.
Poland imports about 9 billion cubic meters of Russian gas annually. It meets about 5% of the country’s needs.
Russia has imposed tough sanctions on the two countries, while other European countries have succeeded and agreed to pay in rubles. According to a report, Hungary will pay in rubles for Russian gas in rubles against the euro at Gazprobank. Apart from this, Austria and Austrian BPS have also shown willingness to pay Russian gas in rubles. Even Germany, which has taken a hard line, has now shown a willingness to pay for the gas in rubles, with a respite.
