© Bloomberg. Valve wheels at a gas well near to the Gazprom PJSC gas drilling rig in the Kovyktinskoye gas field, part of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline project, near Irkutsk, Russia, on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. Built by Russian energy giant Gazprom PJSC, the pipeline runs about 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) from the Chayandinskoye and Kovyktinskoye gas fields in the coldest part of Siberia to Blagoveshchensk, near the Chinese border. Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) — Germany is taking Russia’s threats to halt supplies seriously after the country stopped deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria over disputed payment terms.
“Russia is showing that it’s ready to get serious,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Wednesday in Berlin. “They’re ready to put a stop to gas deliveries. We have to take that seriously, and that also goes for other European countries.”
A sudden halt of Russian gas, which still accounts for 35% of German gas supplies, would trigger a recession for Europe’s largest economy, Habeck said. The Kremlin has shown it is prepared to stop supplies over demands to pay in rubles, but Germany believes it’s fulfilling terms of its contracts.
Germany is sticking to guidance that gas should be paid in euros or dollars, with Gazprombank PJSC converting the funds into rubles. He said he expects the country’s companies to abide by those terms, adding that Russia’s payment procedures are unclear and it remains to be seen how the Kremlin reacts.
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