The Russian giant Gazprom announced on Tuesday that it would completely suspend its gas deliveries to the French group Engie as of Thursday, due to the latter’s non-payment of all deliveries made in July.
“Other sources of supply” for the French group
The French Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, wanting to “reassure Engie’s customers”, said during the Quotidien program on the TMC channel that the French group had “found other sources of supply”, without specifying which ones.
Under a decree by Russian President Vladimir Putin, signed at the end of March, Gazprom specifies that “it is prohibited to deliver more natural gas to a foreign buyer if the buyer has not made full payment within the term established in the contract.”
However, Gazprom says it had not received all the amounts due for July deliveries by the end of business on Tuesday. Engie, contacted by AFP on Tuesday night, declined to comment on Gazprom’s announcement.
Russian gas deliveries declined for several months
On Tuesday morning, Engie announced that Gazprom had informed it of additional and immediate reductions in its gas deliveries “due to a disagreement between the parties on the application of the contracts.”
The group recalled having already put in place measures to be able to supply its customers, even in the event of an interruption in Gazprom’s flows.
Russian gas deliveries to Engie had already dropped considerably since the start of the conflict in Ukraine. In response to Western sanctions against Moscow to punish its offensive against Kyiv, Russia has repeatedly reduced its gas shipments to Europe, which is heavily dependent on it.
Source: BFM TV
