European energy companies are scrambling to find a workaround that allows them to pay for Russian gas without falling foul of EU sanctions, amid political chaos sparked by the Kremlin’s decision to cut off supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.
Big gas distributors in Germany and Austria confirmed they were exploring ways to continue to make payments after Putin signed a decree at the end of March calling for a “special procedure for foreign buyers’ fulfilment of obligations to Russian suppliers of natural gas”.
