The Polish state energy company said today it will not pay for Russian gas in rubles, another waiver of the Kremlin’s demands amid unprecedented sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine.
“We don’t understand how we can do this,” said Pavel Majewski, head of the Polish state oil and gas company.
“The contract defines the methods of payment. It does not allow either side to change them at will.”
On Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin said Russia would only accept payments in rubles for gas supplies to “enemy countries” after a flurry of war-related sanctions hit Moscow.
The economy minister of Germany, which imported 55% of its natural gas from Russia before the war in Ukraine, said the move was a violation of the agreement and that Berlin would discuss with its European partners how to respond.
The head of the Austrian energy company OMV said that the signed contract does not allow payments in rubles.
Poland’s current Russian gas agreement expires at the end of the year. Warsaw hopes to then phase out Russian gas, replacing it with liquefied natural gas supplied from Norway via the Baltic Sea pipeline.
The Kremlin is trying to limit the impact on the Russian economy of the unprecedented sanctions that have affected everything in Russia, from the central bank’s gold reserves to fast food restaurants.
Immediately after Putin’s announcement, the ruble, which had fallen sharply since the start of the war in Ukraine, strengthened against the dollar and the euro, and natural gas prices rose.