Belarus yesterday threatened to shut off all Russian oil and gas flows to Europe this morning. The warning came as Lithuania reported the first disruption of gas flows to Europe on the third day of the Belarus-Gazprom gas spat.
Vladimir Semashko, Belarus’s first deputy prime minister, announced the country had repaid Gazprom the $187m (€153m, £125m) it owed in debt but was still waiting to receive the $260m it says the Russian gas monopoly owes it in transit fees.
“Now we have the absolute right to demand Gazprom repay [its debt] by 10am on June 24 . . . If that’s not done we will need to block the transit of hydrocarbons,” he said. Gazprom said it had yet to receive the money from Belarus.