THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) – Dutch energy firm Eneco said Tuesday the company would not enter into new contracts with Russian gas suppliers over the war in Ukraine.
In a statement, Japanese-owned Eneco said it would honour existing contracts but “under these circumstances” would not ink new deals with Russian suppliers.
The company estimates that some 15 percent of the gas it supplies to its 5.6 million customers comes from Russia.
Eneco chief executive As Tempelman told a news conference that a contract signed in 2010 and expiring in 2030 with Germany’s Wingas, which at the time was associated with Russian energy giant Gazprom, would remain in place at least for now.
Breaking that deal would mean the gas which would otherwise flow from the existing accord would be sold for a higher price under current market conditions, thereby benefiting Russia, Dutch news agency ANP quoted Tempelman as saying.
He also warned that security of affordable supplies was a factor that Eneco, which also operates in Belgium, Germany and Britain, had to consider.
The company is seeking to become climate neutral by 2035
“Given the current situation, our plans (for reaching neutrality) have become more urgent still,” Eneco said
Formerly local government-owned Eneco, which was bought out by a consortium led by Japan’s Mitsubishi in 2019, achieved sales topping five billion euros ($5.5 billion) last year, according to data released Tuesday.
Although EU states have imposed a raft of sanctions on Moscow owing to its invasion of Ukraine, Russian fuel imports have been spared to date given the bloc’s huge dependence on them.
© Agence France-Presse
