Vladimir Putin announced last week the obligation for European customers of Gazprom to pay their bills in rubles and no longer in euros or dollars, a measure presented as retaliation after Western sanctions which froze a large part of foreign currency reserves Russians after the offensive in Ukraine.
"De facto, for the one who receives the Russian gas, who pays for the deliveries, there is in fact no change. They just acquire rubles for the amount in currency which is provided for in the gas supply contract" , underlined Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Kremlin.
"Russia remains faithful to its contractual obligations, in volume as well as in price," he said, adding that Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as well as their advisers, had discussed the new system in detail the day before.
Russian gas is crucial for the EU, which has been seeking since the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine to find ways to get rid of this dependence.
The decision to switch to ruble invoicing allows Russia to support its national currency, which has been heckled by sanctions, but will deprive it of a source of foreign exchange.
Already, Russia obliges its exporters, including Gazprom, to convert 80% of their turnover into rubles.
These measures and a key interest rate of 20% enabled the Russian currency to recover.
After dropping considerably in the wake of the start of the Russian offensive on February 24, it is back to levels close to those recorded before the assault.
© 2022 AFP