Split
In the course of the Ukraine war, the dispute over gas between Russia and the West comes to a head. The EU is now creating clarity in dealing with Russian gas.
- Since the start of the Ukraine war, Germany has been trying to achieve independence from gas and oil from Russia.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin halts gas exports to Poland and Bulgaria. He threatens the EU and the West with further delivery stops.
- Read all about the EU’s dependence on Russian gas in the news ticker.
+++ 9.30 p.m.: Instead of a complete halt to deliveries, experts at the Brussels think tank Bruegel recommend import tariffs on Russian energy in order to put pressure on Moscow. “The arguments for a tariff are stronger than ever,” said scientist Simone Tagliapietra of the German Press Agency. “Russia’s decision to cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria represents a serious escalation to which Europe should respond with unity and resoluteness.” He and other Bruegel experts published a letter in the scientific journal Science on Thursday, explaining how tariffs could function as leverage on Russia.
Putin stops gas delivery – EU: Ruble exchange for gas payments is a matter for Russia
+++ 6.40 p.m.: The European Commission has clarified regulations on the ruble payment required by Russia for gas deliveries. Companies opening a bank account in Russia and continuing to pay for supplies in euros, as Moscow has requested, do not violate EU sanctions against Russia, EU Commission officials said on Thursday. “What the Russians do with the money afterwards is up to them,” said one official.
However, the EU Commission does not consider it acceptable that the purchase by Russia is only considered complete once the money has been converted into rubles. “It would be a breach of sanctions for a company to accept opening a second account to meet demands,” said an EU official. During the exchange of money in rubles on the second account, the money is in the hands of the Russian central bank, which is sanctioned by the EU.
Gas supply from Russia:EU companies not obliged to exchange rubles
The regulation thus stipulates that EU companies cannot formally be held responsible for the ruble exchange – but does not prevent Russia from exchanging the money afterwards. According to a spokesman, Germany’s largest importer of Russian natural gas, the energy group Uniper, is examining the possibility of paying for Russian natural gas in euros to an account in Russia. Uniper believes that there could be a solution to the question of how the funds could then be converted into rubles: “But there is still no final solution.”
Putin stops gas delivery: According to Chancellor Scholz, Germany is prepared
+++5:15 p.m.: Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) commented on the gas supply stop from Russia: One must prepare for it, even if it is not yet clear whether Germany will no longer receive gas from Russia, reports the dpa. “One can only speculate whether and what decision the Russian government will make in this regard, but it makes little sense,” said the Chancellor, who is currently in Tokyo, Japan. The federal government had already begun preparations in the event of a delivery stop before the war in Ukraine broke out. The federal government is still heavily dependent on Russian gas supplies, but wants to switch to other sources of supply as quickly as possible.
Gas delivery: Russia doubles its income despite the Ukraine war
+++ 4:00 p.m.: Despite talks about an energy embargo against Russia, fossil fuels worth 63 billion euros have been exported from Russia since the beginning of the Ukraine war, 71 percent of it to the EU. This is reported by the Finnish research organization Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Russia has even doubled its profits, they say. Germany is the leader in gas imports with 9.6 billion euros. Russian oil deliveries to the EU, on the other hand, fell by 20 percent and coal by 40 percent. Russia made a profit with liquid gas: 20 percent more gas was delivered to the EU.
Gas delivery from Russia stopped: Discussion about supply in Germany
+++ 3:30 p.m.: The cessation of Russian gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria has so far had no impact on security of supply in Germany, reports the German Press Agency (dpa). The Federal Network Agency emphasized this in its daily report on the gas supply situation in Germany. The gas inflows to Germany are at a normal level. After the gas supply stop from Russia, the supply situation in Poland and Bulgaria is also stable, both countries are currently using other sources of supply. “Both countries are not calling for an early warning level (as part of the gas emergency plan), which also currently speaks for a secure supply situation.”
The filling levels of the German gas storage facilities have continued to rise. The total filling level was 33.6 percent and thus significantly higher than in spring 2015, 2018 and 2021. The wholesale price for natural gas to be delivered in May fell slightly. According to the Federal Network Agency, on Thursday morning at the important Dutch trading point TTF, it was more than four percent below the previous day’s price at 102.75 per megawatt hour.
Putin stops gas delivery – German company still sticks to Russia projects
+++ 2:30 p.m.: The German gas and oil company Wintershall Dea wants to stick to its existing projects in Russia despite the Ukraine conflict. But there would be no more new projects, reports the AFP news agency. According to Mario Mehren, CEO of Wintershall Dea, a withdrawal from the Russian market would be irresponsible at the moment: Then “assets in the billions would go to the Russian state”. However, Mehren also emphasized that an “era is coming to an end” and that a return to the usual business relationship with Russia is no longer possible.
Wintershall Dea recorded a loss of around one billion euros in the first quarter. In particular, the write-off of the financing for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline caused the gas and oil company to go into the red. “Germany is absolutely dependent on energy imports,” emphasizes Mehren and warns of an energy embargo against Russia because of the Ukraine war.
Gas from Russia: Putin wants rubles – four EU countries are said to have already paid
+++ 12.00 p.m.: According to a person close to the Russian company Gazprom, four European gas buyers have already paid for supplies in rubles, as President Vladimir Putin has requested. This is reported by the Bloomberg news agency.
Even if the other buyers reject the Kremlin’s terms, after stopping gas flows to Poland and Bulgaria on Wednesday, further disruptions are not likely until the second half of May, when the next payments are due, the person said on condition of anonymity. Ten European companies have already opened the accounts with Gazprombank needed to meet Russia’s payment requirements, the person said, according to the Bloomberg report.
Russia threatens EU with further delivery stops
First report from Thursday, April 28, 09:00 a.m.: Moscow – The energy dispute between Russia and the West has reached a new high with the gas stop in Poland and Bulgaria. On Wednesday (April 27) Vladimir Putin suspended gas supplies to Eastern European countries. The pressure on Germany to become independent of energy from Russia as quickly as possible is also growing.
Moscow justified the gas export ban by saying that Poland and Bulgaria had not complied with Russia’s payment demands. Putin had demanded gas payments in rubles from Western countries. However, many observers interpret the measure as a warning shot to Germany. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck met his counterpart from Poland the day before the gas ban to talk about alternative import options for oil. Habeck then announced that he expected Germany to be independent of oil from Russia in a few days. Since the beginning of the Ukraine war, Germany has reduced oil imports from Russia from 35 to 12 percent.
| Russia | 199.928 |
| USA | 149.538 |
| Qatar | 143.700 |
| Norway | 112.951 |
| Australia | 102.562 |
| You have | 70.932 |
| Deutschland | 50.092 |
| Netherlands | 39.459 |
“Signal to Germany” in the Ukraine war: Russia stops gas imports to Poland and Bulgaria
While the discussion in Germany is mainly about gas, oil exports are much more important for Russia, said the FDP politician Alexander Graf Lambsdorff on Deutschlandfunk. “I believe that with this announcement against Poland, they really wanted to send a signal to Germany and other EU member states,” he concluded. At the same time, there is growing concern that Putin could also turn off the gas supply to Germany. The President of Russia has repeatedly threatened the West with this step, citing the demand for payments in rubles. In the course of the delivery stop to Poland and Bulgaria, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov made it clear that deliveries to countries that do not adopt the new payment system will be stopped.
Quelle: OPEC Annual Statistical Bulletin 2020
Individual deputies and senators in Russia had already called for a complete cessation of energy supplies to the West in order to stop “heating” the “unfriendly states”. Peskov now said that Russia would prefer to hear constructive proposals from the EU on how future relations could be shaped using political-diplomatic methods. “We are currently seeing statements from the head of EU diplomacy that everything should be decided on the battlefield,” Peskov said, referring to Ukraine. (vbu/ter with dpa/AFP)