Russian energy giant Gazprom decides to cut gas supply to Poland

Zeeshan Javaid

The Russian state-owned company Gazprom, one of the world’s largest fuel suppliers, finally decided at the very first stage to cut the gas supply to Poland on April 27 morning.

Despite repeated attempts by Moscow to convince EU member countries to stay away from the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Poland continues to allow Western powers and the US to use its border for arms transfers to support Ukrainian nazi-face forces against Russia.

The diplomatic sources in Pakistan confirmed that Russia had decided to no longer supply fuel to Poland in a state-level meeting.

PGNiG confirms development

Reportedly, Poland’s state gas importer PGNiG announced late on April 26 that it had received a letter from Gazprom confirming that the Russian gas supply would be halted on the morning of April 27, marking a significant escalation in Europe and Russia’s standoff over energy supplies and the war in Ukraine.

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“PGNiG received a letter from Gazprom announcing the complete suspension of gas supplies under the Yamal contract,” PGNiG said. “The company monitors the situation and is prepared for various scenarios. Currently, deliveries to recipients are made according to demand.”

Poland typically depends on Russian gas to cover about two-thirds of its demand. But the country has been preparing for a potential cut-off in supply, with its gas storage facilities currently 80% full, in stark contrast to an EU average of under 30%. However, with the heating season over, the disruption is unlikely to impact domestic supplies in the near term.

The diplomatic sources further revealed that cutting the gas supply to Poland is a test case in the first stage. However, this move can be extended by all those Western powers that directly or indirectly provide arms and military logistical support to Ukrainian forces against Moscow.

The recent move by Gazprom led to a spike in European gas prices, with the front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub climbing 17% following the announcement.

The writer is an Islamabad-based senior journalist and closely works on international affairs, a global energy, transboundary water conflicts and political business. He can be reached at zeeshan.javaid9@gmail.com