Russian gas producer Gazprom has cut off supplies Denmark’s Ørsted following its failure to pay in roubles.

The Danish company said Gazprom Export has halted the supply of gas after the Russian firm demanded payment in roubles, despite being under no obligation to do so under the contract.

However, since there is no gas pipeline going directly from Russia to Denmark, it will not be able to direct cut off supplies to the European country and therefore it will still be possible to get gas.

It means gas for Denmark must, “to a larger extent”, be bought on the European gas market.

Mads Nipper, Group President and CEO of Ørsted said: “At Ørsted, we stand firm in our refusal to pay in roubles and we’ve been preparing for this scenario so we still expect to be able to supply gas to our customers.

“The situation underpins the need of the EU becoming independent of Russian gas by accelerating the build-out of renewable energy.”