Polish officials: Russia suspending gas supplies over rubles

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Russia is suspending natural gas deliveries to Poland beginning Wednesday morning after Poland refused a demand to pay for its supplies in Russian rubles, Polish officials said Tuesday.

Poland’s state gas company, PGNiG, said it was notified by Russian gas giant Gazprom that deliveries through the Yamal-Europe pipeline would stop Wednesday.

Climate Minister Anna Moskwa stressed that Poland was prepared for such a situation after working for years to reduce its reliance on Russian energy sources. She said the country has been effectively independent when it comes to Russian gas for some time.

“There will be no shortage of gas in Polish homes,” Moskwa tweeted.

The minister repeated that message at a news conference. “Appropriate diversification strategies that we have introduced allow us to feel on the safe side in this situation,” she said.

The Yamal pipeline carries natural gas from Russia to Poland and Germany, through Belarus. Poland has been receiving some 9 billion cubic meters of Russian gas annually.

Flow charts published on the website of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas showed drastic drops of gas flows at entry points in Kondratki, a town in eastern Poland, and Vysokaye, which is in Belarus.

The Russian news agency Tass cited Gazprom as saying that Poland must pay for its gas supplies under a new procedure, but the Russian company did not confirm the suspension of gas supplies.

Poland has been working since the 1990s to wean itself off of Russian energy and expected to end its reliance on Russian gas this year.