(Bloomberg) -- Russia has cut natural gas supplies to a unit of Gazprom PJSC seized by Germany in retaliation for western penalties over the war in Ukraine.

Gazprom Germania GmbH and its subsidiaries are no longer receiving all contracted volumes, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said. Europe’s biggest economy and the largest buyer of Russian gas is receiving gas from alternative sources and can cope with the disruption, he said. 

“In Germany, Gazprom and its subsidiary are affected, and that means that some of the subsidiaries are no longer getting any gas from Russia,” Habeck said in a speech to the lower house of parliament in Berlin. “But the market offers other alternatives.”

Moscow prohibited dealings with Gazprom Germania and its various subsidiaries now under the control of Germany’s energy regulator. That includes energy supplier Wingas GmbH, a European gas storage business, the London-based trading arm of Gazprom and EuRoPol Gaz, owner of the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline connecting Russia to Germany.

“The situation is that the gas market can compensate for the loss of gas from Russia,” Habeck said.

Germany last month temporarily took control of Gazprom Germania to safeguard security of supply. Most of the group’s companies had come under pressure after clients and business partners refused to do business with them after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That raised the prospect that owners of key European energy infrastructure wouldn’t survive.

Habeck said that Russia’s decision to sanction Gazprom Germania “shows though that the confrontation over energy is a weapon” and that “energy can be used powerfully in an economic conflict.”

“We are monitoring the situation closely,” he told lawmakers. “We have prepared for the situation and I, and the federal network agency, will inform you through the course of the day.”

Habeck will make a further statement about the sanctions on Gazprom Germania together with the president of the federal network agency at 12:45 p.m. in Berlin.

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