After the clear refusal of the G7 countries to pay for gas supplies from Russia in rubles, the European Union is preparing to interrupt supplies soon.

"We take the situation very seriously," the European Commission said to the FAZ on Tuesday - the member states are now called upon to keep their national emergency plans ready for use.

Otherwise, the EU is well positioned if Russia should actually interrupt deliveries.

"We have been preparing for this case for months," said a senior EU official.

The attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to split the EU with his demands has failed.

The EU will not pay for Russian gas in rubles.

The EU participates in the meetings of the G7,

A spokesman said that the rejection of the Russian demands also applies to the EU as a whole.

It is now up to Putin" It is now up to Putin to find a way out of the tree, an EU official said.

Henrik Kafsack

Business correspondent in Brussels.

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Catherine Wagner

Business correspondent for Russia and the CIS based in Moscow.

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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov indirectly threatened to stop deliveries in an interview with an American television station on Monday evening.

If the EU refuses to pay for gas supplies in rubles, Russia will not supply the gas for free: "No payment - no gas," said Peskov.

The Kremlin has not yet received a final decision from the EU.

If this changes, a reaction will be determined, according to President Vladimir Putin's spokesman.

It is clear that Russia will not supply gas for free.

One is not ready to devote oneself to "charity".

Putin announced last week that he would no longer accept payments for gas deliveries from “unfriendly countries”, i.e. those that have imposed sanctions on Russia, in future only in rubles.

The state-controlled gas company Gazprom, the Russian government and the central bank are due to present Putin with a plan for switching payments by this Thursday.

Of the top five importers of Russian gas, Germany, Italy, Austria and France are affected;

only Turkey is not considered “unfriendly”.

According to the RBK newspaper, the "unfriendly" states received $43 billion in payments for pipeline gas from Russia last year.

"Putin's attempt to divide us is evident"

On Monday, however, the group of seven leading democratic economic powers (G7) clearly rejected the Russian demands.

In addition to Germany, these include France, Italy, Japan, Canada, the USA and Great Britain.

"Putin's attempt to divide us is obvious," said Economy Minister Robert Habeck after a virtual meeting with the G7 energy ministers.

Germany currently chairs the group.

"We will not allow ourselves to be divided, and the answer of the G7 countries is clear: the agreements will be complied with," Habeck continued.

Scholz had emphasized: “The companies will pay according to their contracts.” The contracts usually clearly state either the dollar or the euro as the currency.

In fact, however, the federal government can hardly make any specifications on this issue, precisely because these are purely private contracts.

The G7 therefore only “urged” the companies not to give in to the Russian demands.

The European Commission has been preparing a possible gas supply stop for months.

Long before the start of the Ukraine war, the Commission had been negotiating with the United States and many other countries to supply additional liquefied natural gas (LNG) to cushion this.

In the past three months, LNG supplies to the EU had reached record levels.

In addition, the Commission has already announced the goal of replacing two thirds of Russian gas by the end of the year, that is around 150 billion cubic meters a year, and of becoming completely independent of Russian gas by 2027.

Additional LNG deliveries from the USA should make a major contribution to this.

The EU and the US announced on Friday that 15 billion cubic meters should flow from there this year in addition to the expected 22 billion cubic meters.

In the coming years, the extra volume is expected to increase to 50 billion cubic meters per year.

An interruption in gas supplies is likely to pose challenges for the EU, especially with a view to the coming winter.

The Brussels think tank Bruegel assumes that the EU cannot replace the entire amount of gas.

This is likely to affect energy-intensive energy sectors in particular.

Better protected against blockages

For Russia, on the other hand, economists doubt that the switch to the ruble will have any noticeable consequences for the Russian currency.

Already, according to a rule issued in response to sanctions against the central bank, Russian exporters must convert 80 percent of their dollar earnings into rubles to support the currency.

If gas deliveries were to be paid for in rubles in the future, instead of the previous 80 percent of the income, 100 percent would be used for ruble support, which is not a glaring difference.

However, European customers would be forced to buy rubles from the central bank and other Russian banks, which are under sanctions, among others.

This would support the Russian financial system and the EU would have to circumvent its own punitive measures.

Finally, payments in rubles would be better protected from blockades or freezes by the West since they would not have to be processed through foreign dollar correspondent accounts.