'Russia cuts off natural gas supply to Denmark'

Copenhagen (Denmark): Denmark's largest energy company said Russia cut off its gas supply on Wednesday because it refused to pay in rubles, the latest escalation over European energy amid the war in Ukraine.

Russia previously halted natural gas supplies to Finland, Poland and Bulgaria for refusing a demand to pay in rubles. And on Tuesday, the tap was turned off to the Netherlands.

Danish energy company Orsted said it still expected to be able to serve its customers.

We stand firm in our refusal to pay in rubles, and we've been preparing for this scenario, Orsted CEO Mads Nipper said.

The situation underpins the need of the EU becoming independent of Russian gas by accelerating the build-out of renewable energy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared in the wake of Western sanctions that unfriendly foreign buyers needed to open two accounts with state-owned Gazprombank, one to pay in euros and dollars as specified in contracts and another in rubles.

"This is totally not acceptable," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.

This is a kind of blackmailing from Putin. We continue to support Ukraine, and we distance ourselves from the crimes that Putin and Russia commit.

The Danish Energy Agency said that in the first 18 weeks of 2022, Russian gas amounted to approximately 25 per cent of EU gas consumption.

The agency said that Denmark losing its supply would not have immediate

consequences.