Partially state-owned natural gas company GasTerra announced that it would no longer be receiving gas from Russia's Gazprom starting next month. The Dutch company said it had made the decision after rejecting Russia's demand that it pay for its natural gas in robles.
Gazprom confirmed that it had already fully cut off gas supplies to GasTerra. The company said it suspended shipments after GasTerra failed to make payments on gas deliveries that were made in April.
GasTerra purchases natural gas from other countries largely on behalf of the Dutch government. Half of the company is owned by the Dutch government, while the rest is split between Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil. The company said it has already secured at least two billion cubic meters of gas from another source to offset its expected gas deliveries from Gazprom over the next five months.
In a post on social media, Dutch Energy Minister Rob Jetten said that the government agrees with the company's decision not to agree with the "unilaterally imposed payment conditions." Jetten assured the Dutch people that the decision would not impact the physical delivery of gas throughout the country. Gasunie, the nation's national grid operator, said it does not expect the decision to significantly impact its operations.
The company did warn that it was impossible for it to predict in advance the impact of its refusal to purchase Russian gas on the demand situation in the European market.
Under Russia's demands, GasTerra wasn't only required to pay for gas in robles but also to set up accounts that would be used to covert euros into robles. The company said such an arrangement could violate European Union sanctions against Russia. It added that such an arrangement would also present too many financial and operational risks.
GasTerra stated that it has frequently requested that Gazprom follow its contractual payment and delivery responsibilities. According to Pieter ten Bruggencate, a spokeswoman for the Economy Affairs Ministry, the country will not implement its emergency gas plan, which would require industrial customers to limit use. He added that he doesn't see the situation as an immediate threat to the country's gas supply.
Russia has previously cut off gas supplies to Poland, Bulgaria, and Finland after they refused to pay for gas in accordance with President Vladimir Putin's decree, which demands the establishment of rouble accounts in a Russian bank as part of energy transactions. Putin imposed the requirement after broad sanctions were imposed against the country by the U.S. and its allies for its actions against Ukraine.
