Russian gas supplies to Poland halted, Polish media reports

The European Commission said companies should continue to pay the currency agreed in their contracts with Gazprom - 97% of which are in euros or dollars. Earlier Tuesday, Poland announced a list of 50 Russian oligarchs and companies, including Gazprom, that would be subject to sanctions under a law passed earlier this month allowing their assets to be frozen.

Russian gas supplies under the Yamal contract to Poland have been halted, Polish private broadcaster Polsat News and the Onet.pl website reported, citing unnamed sources.

PGNiG SA, which buys gas from Gazprom under a long-term contract that expires this year, declined to comment. Physical gas flows via the Yamal-Europe pipeline from Belarus to Poland were at zero kilowatt hours (kWh) at 4pm CET (1400 GMT), down from 52,634,785 kWh/day in the early hours of Tuesday, data from the European Union network of gas transmission operators showed.

The Polish climate ministry said it would hold a briefing on gas supplies at 7:15pm CET on Tuesday. Poland has repeatedly said it would not agree to Russia's demand to pay in roubles for gas it buys from Gazprom under new rules Russia announced last month.

Moscow has warned Europe it risks having gas supplies cut unless it pays in roubles. In March it issued a decree proposing that energy buyers open accounts at Gazprombank to make payments in euros or dollars, which would then be converted to roubles. The European Commission said companies should continue to pay the currency agreed in their contracts with Gazprom - 97% of which are in euros or dollars.

Earlier Tuesday, Poland announced a list of 50 Russian oligarchs and companies, including Gazprom, that would be subject to sanctions under a law passed earlier this month allowing their assets to be frozen. The law is separate from sanctions imposed jointly by EU countries.