Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with the head of the Ingushetia Autonomous Republic, Mahmoud Ali Kalimatov, at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow on the 30th of last month. Moscow = Associated Press
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a presidential decree requiring non-friendly countries to pay gas payments in rubles only. It is one of retaliatory measures against Western economic sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine.
According to Russian state-run Interfax news agency on the 31st (local time), President Putin said at a meeting for the development of the aviation industry that “Western countries unfriendly to Russia should open accounts for gas payment with Russian banks.”
If Russia’s non-friendly countries do not comply with these conditions, it will cut off gas supply. “If buyers from non-friendly countries do not comply with the new payment terms, the current gas supply contract will be suspended,” Putin said.
The ruble payment terms apply to contracts with all gas purchasing companies registered in non-friendly countries, the Russian state-run Sputnik news agency reported. However, the news agency introduced that this condition applies only to pipeline natural gas (PNG) supplied by Gazprom, a Russian state-owned gas company. It does not apply to liquefied natural gas (LNG) transactions.
However, according to the full text of the presidential decree released by Interfax, foreign buyers do not necessarily have to remit gas in rubles. It is also possible to remit money to a designated Russian bank in foreign currency, convert it into rubles, and then pay.
Kim Cheong-hwan reporter chk@hankookilbo.com
