Russia halted gas supply to nations refusing to pay under new rules says Dmitry Peskov

The Russian President's Press Secretary, Dmitry Peskov, has announced that nations that have refused to make payments for gas supplies under new rules have been cut off from supplies. Speaking to reporters on June 9, Peskov said that Russia has no plans to cut off the export of gas, TASS reported. He said that countries that continue to receive gas from Russia are working under the new system which works according to the decree of the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Notably, Russian energy gas giant Gazprom has suspended gas supplies to Bulgaria, Netherlands, Finland, Poland and Denmark as they failed to may payments in rubles. Earlier on 27 April, Russian energy giant Gazprom announced the suspension of gas supplies to Bulgaria’s Bulgargaz and Poland’s PGNiG as they refused to make payments for Russian gas in rubles. On March 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the "unfriendly countries" need to pay in rubles for importing Russian gas from April 1. According to the decree signed by Putin, "unfriendly countries" need to buy Russian gas in rubles. As per the news report, these countries need to transfer money in foreign currencies to Gazprombank which will then buy rubles in exchange and transfer them to the accounts of importers. It is pertinent to note here that the war between Russia and Ukraine continues for more than 100 days. 

Thierry Breton says EU created a plan to replace Russian gas 

Meanwhile, the European Union Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, on Sunday, June 5, said that the EU has created a plan to replace Russian gas. Breton informed that the EU imports 155 billion cubic meters a year from Russia, DW reported citing Europe 1 radio. According to Thierry Breton, Brussels intends to produce 50 billion cubic meters by importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States or Qatar. In addition, Brussels will be able to get 10 billion cubic meters of LNG through existing pipelines and additional 25 billion cubic meters from accelerated offshore wind turbines and photovoltaic panels. As per the DW report, Breton further said that Russia's President Vladimir Putin makes use of gas to "divide" Europe. 

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