Poland, Bulgaria denounce Russian gas 'blackmail'

Polish and Bulgarian leaders accused Moscow of using natural gas to blackmail their countries after Russia's state-controlled energy company abruptly announced it would stop supplying the two European nations Wednesday.

The gas cutoff came after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that “unfriendly” countries would need to start paying for gas in rubles, Russia's currency, which Bulgaria and Poland refused to do.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told Poland's parliament on Wednesday that he believed the action was revenge for new sanctions against Russia that Warsaw imposed over the war in Ukraine.

Morawiecki vowed that Poland would not be cowed by the cutoff. He said the country was safe from an energy crisis thanks to years of efforts to secure gas from other countries.

Lawmakers stood and applauded when he said that Russia’s “gas blackmail” would have no effect on Poland.

The new sanctions, announced Tuesday, targeted 50 Russian oligarchs and companies, including energy giant Gazprom. Hours later, Poland said it had received notice that Gazprom was cutting off its gas supplies for failing to adhere to the demand to pay in Russian rubles.

Poland’s gas company, PGNiG, said the gas supplies from the Yamal pipeline stopped early Wednesday, as Gazprom had warned they would.

Bulgaria said Tuesday that it also was informed by Gazprom that the country's gas supplies would end at the same time, but officials in Sofia said Wednesday morning that they were still seeing gas arrive.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov called Gazprom’s suspension of gas deliveries to his country “a gross violation of their contract" and “blackmail.”

“We will not succumb to such a racket,” he added.

Russia's move raised wider concerns that other countries could be targeted next as Western countries increase their support for Ukraine amid a war now in its third month.

European Union officials were holding emergency talks on Wednesday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the announcement by Gazprom “is yet another attempt by Russia to use gas as an instrument of blackmail.”

The Greek government was to hold its own emergency meeting in Athens. Greece's next scheduled payment to Gazprom is due on May 25, and the government must decide whether it will comply with the demand to complete the transaction in rubles.

Greece is ramping up its liquefied natural gas storage capacity, and has contingency plans to switch several industry sectors from gas to diesel as an emergency energy source. It has also reversed a program to reduce domestic coal production over the next two years.

Russian gas made up some 45% of Poland's overall gas usage until the cutoff. But Poland is far more reliant on coal to heat homes and fuel industry, with gas making up around 7% of the country's overall energy mix.

Russian supplies to Poland already were expected to end later this year anyway. Poland has worked for many years to secure supplies from other countries.

Several years ago, the country opened its first terminal for liquefied natural gas, or LNG, in Swinoujscie, on the Baltic Sea coast. A pipeline from Norway is to due to start operating this year.

Bulgaria's energy minister said his country can meet the needs of users for at least one month.

“Alternative supplies are available, and Bulgaria hopes that alternative routes and supplies will also be secured at the EU level,” Energy Minister Alexander NikolovNikolov said.

Fatih Birol, the head of the Paris-based International Energy Agency, described Russia's move as a “weaponization of energy supplies.”

He said Russia’s decision “makes it clearer than ever that Europe needs to move quickly to reduce its reliance on Russian energy.”

___

Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine