The spot price of gas in Europe at the opening of trading on Wednesday jumped by a quarter to above $1300 per thousand cubic meters after Bulgaria and Poland refused to pay Gazprom for supplies in rubles, which caused an automatic suspension of supplies.

By refusing supplies from the East, such players will drive up the price on the spot market in Europe. Thus, the price of gas for all buyers will rise.

Trading in the nearest (May) TTF futures on the ICE Futures exchange opened at $1375 per thousand cubic meters after closing at $1089 on Tuesday. Prices are currently hovering at $1330.

As reported, on Wednesday morning Gazprom completely suspended gas supplies to Bulgargaz (Bulgaria) and PGNiG (Poland) due to non-payment in rubles. As of the end of April 26, Gazprom Export had not received payments for gas supplies in April from these companies in rubles, in accordance with Russian Presidential Decree No. 172 of 31.03.2022. Payments for gas supplied from April 1 should be made in rubles using new details, of which the counterparties were timely informed.