Russia will refuse payment for Russian gas in foreign currency, including the dollar and euro, and will only charge in rubles for supplies to “unfriendly” countriesincluding those of the European Union. This was announced by Vladimir Putin this Wednesday.
“I have decided to implement as soon as possible a series of measures to transfer payments for our natural gas by the so-called unfriendly countries to rubles,” said the Russian president, during a meeting with members of the Government.
“I ask the government to give proper instructions to Gazprom to amend existing contracts. At the same time, all foreign consumers must have the opportunity to carry out the necessary operations,” he added.
The Russian Government already adopted on March 8 a list of unfriendly countries and territorieswhich includes the United States and Canada, all EU members, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Montenegro, Switzerland, Albania, Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, North Macedonia, Japan, South Korea , Australia, Micronesia, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan.
For Putin, with the decision to freeze Russian assets, the West has declared a suspension of payments to Moscow that puts an end to the reliability of its currencies. “Several Western countries have made illegitimate decisions about freezing Russian assets, and this collective West actually has drawn a line under the reliability of its currencies“, has held.
According to Putin, both “the United States and the European Union have declared, in principle, a real breach of their obligations to Russia.” “And now everyone in the world knows that obligations in dollars and euros may not be fulfilled“, has summed up.
Russian gas means 40% of EU consumption. Reducing Russian gas imports is especially pressing for the countries of central and southeastern Europe, among those most dependent on Moscow for their energy needs.
In a message intended to reassure these and other countries, Putin has assured that Russia will continue to supply gas according to the stipulated volumes and prices in existing contracts. “I want to separately emphasize that Russia will, of course, continue to supply natural gas in accordance with the volumes and prices set in previously agreed contracts,” she said.
Source: Lasexta
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