PGNiG is delivering gas to areas affected by Novatek's halt

On Thursday, several towns across Poland had their gas supplies cut by the Russian-owned supplier hit by sanctions.

"Polska Spółka Gazownictwa based on an order from Prime Minister (...) has immediately commenced realisation of task aiming at recovery of gas distribution to the 10 boroughs...," the company said.

The gas will be delivered by PGNiG's unit PGNiG Obrót Detaliczny.

RIA news agency quoted a spokesperson for Novatek as saying that the company was ready to resume gas supplies as soon as possible.

"The end-consumers should not suffer in this situation," he was quoted as saying.

Companies and countries were at odds over Moscow's rouble-for-gas payment system on Friday, while European officials promised more guidance on whether buying Russian gas can comply with sanctions and Russia said it saw no problem with its plan.

Russia cut gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland on Wednesday after they refused to abide by the demand issued in a Russian presidential decree last month for gas payments in roubles, prompting concerns other countries could be the next to be hit.

Germany, which imports around half of its gas from Russia, said on Friday energy companies can open special accounts with Gazprombank to pay for Russian gas, without breaching sanctions if transferring euros or dollars to them fulfils their contractual obligations.

It did not specify whether companies could do this and also open a rouble account, as requested by Russia, without being in breach of EU sanctions.

Denmark's Orsted said it has no intention of opening a rouble account in Russia, although it declined to comment on payment in other currencies. Italy's ENI also said it had not opened an account in roubles.

Under Russia's mechanism, buyers are obliged to deposit euros or dollars into an account at privately-owned Russian bank Gazprombank, which has then to convert them into roubles, place the proceeds in another account owned by the foreign buyer and transfer the payment in Russian currency to Gazprom.

EU energy ministers will on Monday hold an emergency meeting to discuss their response to Russia's demand.

The European Commission, the EU executive, has already said countries may be able to make sanctions-compliant payments provided they declare their payments are completed once it has been made in euros and before it is converted into roubles.

EU countries, however, have said they want more clarity, while Germany, the bloc's biggest economy and among the most dependent on Russian gas, says it cannot afford to stop buying Russian supplies, even though it is taking steps to find alternative sources of energy.

A European Commission official told Reuters on Friday the executive will provide EU countries with extra guidance following complaints from some countries that ambiguity would leave different countries reaching different interpretations of what they were allowed to do. 

Russia on Friday said it saw no problem with its proposed system.

"If the established procedure for interaction between gas buyers and the authorised bank is observed by the buyer, and there are no problems for the authorised bank in terms of selling currency on the stock exchange due to restrictive measures on the part of foreign states, then there cannot be any obstacles to paying for and receiving natural gas," Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said.

The rouble has to an extent benefited from Moscow's demand for roubles payment. The currency hit its highest level versus the euro in more than two years on Friday supported by capital controls as the central bank cut interest rates for the second time this month.

European gas prices have hit record levels since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Europe's top gas supplier, and were up slightly on Friday.