Gazprom says Poland is still buying Russian gas but through Germany

Although Russia has halted gas exports to Poland, Warsaw is still buying Russian gas but through Germany, a spokesperson for gas supplier Gazprom said on Thursday.

Poland "claims it no longer needs Russian gas and will no longer buy it, this is not the case in reality," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said on Thursday, according to Russian news agency Interfax.

Kupriyanov said 30 million cubic metres of gas flows from Germany to Poland every day, through the Yamal-Europe pipeline.

His comments come a day after Russian state-owned company Gazprom said it had suspended gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, as both had failed to make payments in roubles in line with Moscow's demand.

The supply of natural gas, of which Russia is a major global supplier, is turning into a power play as multiple Western countries have laid sanctions on Moscow to protest its invasion of Ukraine.

Many of those countries continued to buy Russian gas, though, as they had no alternative. Sensing an opportunity to bolster its currency, which was hit hard by the sanctions, Russia then began demanding gas payments in roubles. But many countries have refused to go along with that ploy.

'A direct attack'

Sofia and Warsaw both insist they have paid their bills. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called the cut-off a "direct attack" on his country and added that his country has sufficient gas reserves.

In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that Western states open accounts at Gazprombank as of April 1 to pay for Russian gas supplies, saying otherwise deliveries to "unfriendly" countries would be halted.

Putin signed a decree stating that sums can continue to be paid into the Russian account in euros or dollars, which Gazprombank then converts to roubles and transfers to Gazprom.