After Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Thursday 31 March requiring “unfriendly” countries to pay for Russian gas deliveries in roubles via accounts opened in Russia, the Kremlin has made it clear that Russia will not cut off gas deliveries to Europe from 1 April.
“Does this mean that if there is no confirmation to pay in roubles, gas supplies will be cut off from 1 April? No, this is not the case and it does not follow on from the decree”, said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, as quoted by Reuters news agency.
He added that payments would only be affected from the second half of April and that gas giant Gazprom would work with its customers to implement the new rules.
For her part, the French Minister for Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, has estimated that the Russian request to pay in roubles should not, “a priori”, lead to any disruptions in terms of deliveries.
“The information we have received from Moscow over the last few days and hours suggests that companies will be able to continue to pay in euros to banks, who will then convert their euros into roubles themselves, in particular Gazprombank”, the minister told the French National Assembly’s Economic Affairs Committee.
In her opinion, the Russian request is primarily a measure to support the rouble, rather than a genuine retaliation measure against European companies.
While several Member State ministers have expressed their unwillingness to pay for deliveries in roubles (pointing out that this would be a breach of contract), the European Commission’s Director General for Energy, Ditte Juul Jørgensen, said she was working closely with Member States and operators “to establish a common approach on currency payments for gas contracts with Russia”.
The German government, has indicated that it is currently analysing “the specific effects” of the Russian decree. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)