Russia's gas giant Gazprom has told Poland and highly dependent Bulgaria that it will halt its shipments of Russian gas to the two countries from Wednesday."Bulgargaz received a notification today, April 26, that natural gas supplies from Gazprom Export will be suspended starting April 27," Bulgaria's economy ministry said late Tuesday in a statement."The Bulgarian side has fully met its obligations and has made all payments required under its current contract in a timely manner, strictly and in accordance with its terms," it added.Poland's PGNiG gas firm also announced Tuesday that "On April 26, 2022, Gazprom informed PGNiG of its intention to completely suspend deliveries under the Yamal contract...

on April 27."The Polish operator said "all deliveries to customers are being made according to their demand."Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Poland's gas storage facilities were 76% full and that the country was ready to obtain necessary supplies from sources other than the Yamal pipeline.Poland imports liquefied gas through a terminal on the Baltic coast and is hoping to receive gas from Norway via the Baltic Pipe project, which is expected to be completed later this year and should eventually cover around 50% of Poland's consumption.Bulgaria's energy ministry also said Tuesday that its state-owned gas operators Bulgargaz and Bulgartransgaz "have undertaken steps for alternative agreements for natural gas deliveries and for coping with the current situation.""At present, there is no need for [imposing] any restrictive measures on consumption," it added.Bulgaria is almost completely dependent on Russia for its annual consumption of about 3.0 billion cubic meters of gas.The Balkan nation receives only small amounts from Azerbaijan that it hopes to increase after completing a key pipe link to neighboring Greece later this year.The country's long-term contract with Gazprom expires at the end of this year.Uncertainty over its renewal amid EU sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine has pushed Sofia to seek alternative supplies and routes, including liquefied natural gas from terminals in Greece and Turkey.'Significant risks' Data from the EU gas operators' Aggregated Gas Storage Inventory showed that Bulgaria's sole gas storage facility at Chiren was just over 17% full on Monday.Bulgaria's energy minister was expected to provide more details on the halt in deliveries on Wednesday morning.Gazprom did not confirm the cut-offs, but a senior executive at the company was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that "Poland must pay for gas supplies according to the new payment procedure."Following the introduction of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin has warned EU member states that their gas supplies will be cut unless they paid in rubles.Western countries have refused to do so, saying that they can continue to pay in euros or dollars.Bulgaria's energy ministry did not explicitly say if it has refused to pay in rubles.But it explained in the statement that "an analysis showed that the new two-step payment procedure proposed by the Russian side does not comply with the current contract, valid by the end of this year."This, according to the ministry, "poses significant risks for the Bulgarian side, including to make payments without receiving any deliveries of gas by the Russian side."The EU as a whole received around 40% of its gas supplies from Russia in 2021.