Gazprom, a Russian gas producer, said Saturday that it had stopped supplying Latvian gas to its neighbours. It accused Latvia of violating gas withdrawal conditions.
Russia has already stopped gas supplies to Poland, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, and Bulgaria. This was in response to President Vladimir Putin’s order that rouble accounts be opened in a Russian bank to facilitate a new settlement.
Russia also stopped gas sales to Shell Energy Europe Germany.
Gazprom didn’t specify in a Saturday statement which gas withdrawal conditions Latvia had violated.
Gazprom’s decision comes just days after Latvijas Gaze, a Latvian energy company, announced that it would be buying gas from Russia and would pay in euros instead of the roubles required for trading with Gazprom.
However, a spokesperson for Latvijas Gaze stated that the company purchased gas from Russia on Friday, but not Gazprom. Latvijas Gaze declined to name its supplier, citing business confidentiality.
Putin stated that the world’s biggest natural gas producer would demand that countries deemed “unfriendly” regarding the conflict in Ukraine pay for pipelined gas in roubles.
The European Commission, which warned that Putin’s order could violate European Union sanctions against Moscow, has asked EU companies to continue to pay in the currency they have agreed to in their Gazprom contracts. Most of these are in dollars or euros.
