Russia energy supplier Gazprom suspends gas supplies to Netherlands
Russia’s Gazprom says it has halted gas supplies to the Netherlands after Dutch energy firm GasTerra refused to pay in rubles following the Russian military offensive in Ukraine.
“Gazprom has completely stopped gas supplies to GasTerra due to non-payment in rubles,” the Russian gas giant said in a statement.
It comes as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban hailed the exemption in an EU Russian oil ban that allowed his country to keep receiving cheap crude from Moscow.
After weeks of negotiations between EU and Budapest, bloc leaders struck a compromise deal that banned Russian oil imports delivered by tankers, but left in place those received via pipelines.
Seaborne exports of oil and petroleum products makes up around two thirds of Russian oil imports.
Germany and Poland have also agreed to phase out piped Russian oil by the end of the year, so this should mean 90% of imports will be embargoed.
However, Hungary will be prohibited from re-exporting Russian crude oil and refined products that it has received via the pipeline.
Leaders agreed a temporary exemption for piped Russian oil also includes Slovakia and the Czech Republic, allowing them extra time to move away from their dependence on Russian oil.
President of the European Council Charles Michel hailed the agreement, reached around midnight, as Europe exerting maximum pressure on Russia to end its war on Ukraine.
