Following Europe’s sanctions against Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to turn off the gas tap to Europe for European countries that do not want to pay their bills in Russian rubles.
Putin has also signed a presidential decree mandating payment in rubles. Failing that, Russia could “fault” the foreign buyers and thus decide not to supply any more gas.
The Russian state gas company Gazprom will no longer make deliveries to the Netherlands from Tuesday until at least the end of September, because the Dutch gas trader GasTerra refuses to pay in rubles.
GasTerra is owned by Shell, Esso Nederland and the Dutch state, among others. According to GasTerra, the gas supply in the Netherlands will not be jeopardized because the company has purchased gas elsewhere.
The Netherlands is not the first country that is no longer supplied with gas. Previously, Poland, Bulgaria and Finland were also closed for the same reason.
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