Russia on Monday maintained gas flow through major pipeline routes in Europe despite uncertainty over payment terms. European leaders urged more sanctions against Moscow amid allegations of war crimes in Ukraine.
Data showed that physical gas flows through the Yamal-Europe pipeline at Germany’s Mollano border point, seen over the weekend, and stands at the last zero.
Enrollments or requests for Russian gas delivery from Ukraine through the Velke Kapuani entry point to Slovakia stood at 967,954 MW/day on Monday. They flowed from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany at 73,379,286 kWh/h.
Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom said it continued to supply natural gas to Europe through Ukraine in line with requests from European consumers.
However, questions remained about future deliveries in light of the Kremlin’s demand that buyers start paying Gazprom in rubles.
Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Hager confirmed that his country would work closely with the European Union against such payment demands.
Meanwhile, Germany, which gets about 40 percent of its gas from Russia, is working “every day” to be able to impose sanctions on Russian energy, the economy minister said on Monday.
Germany has already activated an emergency plan that could lead to gas rationing if supplies are too low. Still, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said banning all Russian energy imports would cause more economic damage to EU member states than Russia.
A top German bank lobby warned that Germany would face a severe recession if imports or Russian gas and oil deliveries were halted.
France’s Council for Economic Analysis said EU-wide tariffs on Russian energy imports could prove more efficient than an outright ban. However, even a complete ban will have a limited effect on most countries.
