Sanctions against Gazprom Germania expected to cost German consumers €5 bn: Report

The sanction on Gazprom Germania, a former subsidiary of Russian energy giant Gazprom, is expected to cost German gas consumers €5 billion, German daily WELT AM SONNTAG reported. According to the report, the company which is under the external control of the Federal Network Agency of Germany, is now forced to purchase gas on the market under new contracts, which are substantially more expensive than the previous ones. This would eventually lead to higher pricing, which will fall on the shoulders of gas consumers. 

Notably, Gazprom Germania and all of its assets were terminated by the Gazprom Group on March 31. Later, the company was placed under the trusteeship of the Federal Network Agency until September 30 by the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection. Earlier on May 11, it was confirmed that Gazprom's erstwhile subsidiary was included in the sanctions list of the Russian Federation. Meanwhile, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that the companies that fell under the retaliatory sanctions of Moscow will no longer be able to partake in the process of gas supplies from Russia.

Bulgaria not to negotiate with Russia's Gazprom for gas supplies

Since the onset of the war, several countries and organizations have imposed numerous sanctions on Russia for its unjustified attack on Ukraine. Meanwhile, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Assen Vassilev has stated that the country will "never again" negotiate gas supplies with Russian energy firm Gazprom. Speaking at the parliament on June 2, he slammed Russia for unilaterally deciding to suspend gas shipments to Bulgaria. The statement of the Bulgarian leader came after Gazprom halted gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland after they did not agree to pay for importing gas from Russia in rubles, Euracriv reported. 

Enforcing gas embargo on Russia would be extremely difficult: EU

Earlier on May 30, the European Union (EU) agreed on the sixth round of sanctions package which is expected to cut around two-thirds of oil imports from Russia to the nations of the bloc. European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen stated that the 27-member block has agreed to phase out its dependency on Russian oil and coal as soon as possible. Meanwhile, at the Brussels summit, EU leaders claimed that enforcing a gas embargo would be extremely difficult as of now and that it was unlikely to be included in the next round of sanctions against Russia.

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