Putin signs decree on gas payment mechanism in rubles for unfriendly countries

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the mechanism for paying for natural gas supplied to unfriendly countries, including the European Union, in Russian rubles.

Based on the decree, customers in unfriendly countries, including in the European Union, are required to open accounts in Russian currency in Russian banks, and the decree will enter into force as of April 1, 2022.

This came according to what the Russian President said today during a government meeting held on the problems of the aviation industry, where he announced that he had signed a decree on natural gas trade with unfriendly countries in rubles.

"We offer customers from these (not friendly to Russia) countries a clear and transparent mechanism in order to buy Russian natural gas, they must open accounts in rubles in Russian banks, from these accounts payments for (Russian) gas will be made," the Russian president said.

Putin added that Russia will consider that natural gas buyers in unfriendly countries have breached the concluded contracts if they refuse to buy Russian gas in rubles, in which case the current contracts will be suspended.

The Russian president stressed that Russia will not carry out charitable work with regard to supplies of natural gas, and said: "No one is selling us anything for free, and we will not do charitable work either. That is, the current contracts will be suspended (in the event that the price of gas is not paid in rubles)."

According to the decree published on the official website of the Kremlin, "Gazprom Bank" is considered a bank licensed to carry out financial transactions related to the sale of natural gas to unfriendly countries.

Customers from the mentioned countries must open two accounts in Gazprom Bank, the first in Russian rubles, and the second in foreign currencies, in order to make payments for the supplied natural gas.

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