By Bond Robertson 
Russian gas company Gazprom said on Tuesday it would stop supplying gas to Danish energy company Ørsted.
Ørsted says gas to Denmark must now pass through the European market, according to Reuters. Ørsted refused to pay for gas in rubles.
– At Ørsted, we stand by our refusal to pay in rubles, and we have prepared for this, so we still expect to be able to deliver gas to our customers, assures CEO Mads Nipper at Ørsted in press release.
The gas supply will be cut off from tomorrow, Wednesday, June 1st.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she supports Ørsted’s decision not to pay in rubles, according to the NTB.
Previously, Gazprom stopped gas deliveries to the Netherlands, Finland, Poland and Bulgaria for the same reasons.
a large part of Russia
Agence France-Presse reported that Denmark covers 18 percent of its annual energy consumption with natural gas. Three-quarters of the gas was produced in 2019 in Denmark. Much of what was imported came from Russia.
Ørsted writes that there is no direct gas pipeline between Denmark and Russia, and therefore Russia cannot approach the gas directly.
The Danes will therefore still be able to use their gas boiler, but the gas will now be purchased on the European market. The project is not expected to cause problems with Denmark’s gas supply, Danish Extrabladet writes.
Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, there has been criticism of the Danish energy giant who thought it could not get out of a trade agreement with Gazprom.
However, Ørsted did not agree to the demand to pay for gas in Russian rubles. They stuck to the euro payment.