Russian energy giant Gazprom says to have snapped gas supplies to Latvia. It accuses the latter of violating purchase. Latvia is the latest EU member to face such actions amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Highlights of Gazprom
• Russian state-run fuel company Gazprom snaps gas supplies to Latvia citing alleged violations of supply conditions
•Russia has also halted gas supplies to Germany, Finland, Poland, Netherlands, and Bulgaria. Latvia is the most recent EU country to face Russian fuel suspensions after refusing to adhere to Gazprom’s payments system.
Gazprom has recently accused Latvia of violating conditions of purchase but has given no evidence of such alleged violations. In its brief statement, Gazprom said, the gas supplies were stopped because Latvia broke “ terms for extraction of gas.” The statement also referred to a possible Latvian refusal to pay for Russian gas in Rubles. Previously buyers of Russian gas paid in dollars and euros. After the EU imposed sanctions against Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that “ unfriendly foreign buyers” would have to pay in rubles.
The Kremlin soon ruled that importers would have to open two accounts in Russia’s Gazprom bank. The first account would store dollars or euros, while the second one would store rubles. The importer would originally pay for gas in dollars or euros, then direct the money to the bank to pay in rubles. Many countries refused upon hearing this as the new payment system would make them break EU sanctions. The EU too advised member countries to pay in euros instead of Russian rubles.
Gazprom Gas Supply Suspension Won’t Impact Us: Latvia
While Latvia does rely on Russian gas, its government says that the ban won’t affect it. Russia’s move won’t make any difference. Latvia has already decided to stop buying Russian gas from 2024, said Edijs Saicans, deputy state secretary on energy policy at the Latvian Economic Ministry. “We do not see any major impacts from such a move”, he said.
A day before, Latvian energy firm Latvijas Gaze announced buying Russian gas and paying in euros instead of rubles. Yesterday, however, a representative of Latvijas Gaze said it was not buying gas from Russia. As of now, Latvijas Gaze has refused to name its Russian provider., citing business confidentiality. It has also refused to respond to comments following Russia’s announcement.
Latvia is not the Only EU Member to Face Russian Fuel Cuts
So far Russia has already cut off gas supplies to Netherlands, Poland, Finland, Bulgaria, and Denmark. All of these countries have refused to pay for Russian gas in rubles. Russia has also halted gas supplies to Germany. It dramatically reduced gas flows through Nord Stream 1 pipeline earlier this month. At that time Kremlin blamed the west for withholding vital equipment due to its sanctions. Its spokesman Dmitry Pskov said:
“ Technical capacities are down, more restricted. Why? Because the process of maintaining technical devices is made extremely difficult by the sanctions adopted by Europe. Gazprom was and always remains a reliable guarantor of its obligations. But it cannot guarantee the pumping of gas if the imported devices cannot be maintained because of European sanctions”.
And Europe said Russian actions were politically motivated. On Tuesday EU nations agreed to an emergency regulation limiting their gas use during winter. In effect, they are preparing for a winter of uncertain gas supplies from Russia. German cities have already started imposing cold showers and switching off lights in their bid to conserve fuel. According to the Guardian, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, about 55% of natural gas consumed in Germany came from Russia.
(Inputs, Reuters, BBC)
