Danish energy firm Ørsted has confirmed that Russian state energy giant Gazprom will halt gas supplies starting on June 1 after Ørsted refused to pay for gas in rubles.
"At Ørsted, we stand firm in our refusal to pay in rubles, and we’ve been preparing for this scenario, so we still expect to be able to supply gas to our customers,” said Mads Nipper, group president and CEO of the Danish firm.
Ørsted warned on Monday that it could be cut off, adding that preparations to minimize the risk to wider supplies include filling up its gas storage facilities in Germany and Denmark.
“Since there is no gas pipeline going directly from Russia to Denmark, Russia will not be able to directly cut off the gas supplies to Denmark, and it will thus still be possible for Denmark to get gas. However, this means that the gas for Denmark must, to a larger extent, be purchased on the European gas market. We expect this to be possible,” according to the firm.
Around 4% of Denmark’s total energy consumption comes from Russian gas, according to European think tank Bruegel.
Finland, Poland and Bulgaria have already been cut off from Russian gas supplies after refusing to pay in rubles. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in March that "unfriendly" nations would have to pay rubles, rather than the euros or dollars stated in contracts.