Russian president Vladimir Putin has signed a decree that demands ‘unfriendly countries’ must pay for Russian gas in rubles.
The new law dictates that ‘unfriendly countries’ must open accounts in Russian banks and will come into force on April 1.
Current gas supply contracts will be stopped if buyers from ‘unfriendly countries’ do not meet new payment terms.
🔹the decree applies only to Gazprom’s pipeline deliveries;
🔹Russian government commission on foreign investment will be able to issue permits for non-ruble gas payments;
🔹existing contracts for the purchase of Russian gas will be stopped if they refuse to pay in rubles;
🔹Russia will continue to supply gas in volumes and at prices stipulated by existing contracts;
🔹these prices are several times lower than current spot prices;
🔹the transition to settlements in rubles with Western buyers of Russian gas will strengthen the country’s financial and economic stability, Putin said.
All states are equal, there are no second-rate states and all nations are sovereign – Lavrov
As Russia continues to make financial power moves Russia’s FM Sergey Lavrov says this:
‘A new reality is taking shape: the unipolar world is irretrievably receding into the past and a multipolar world is being born.’
This is an objective process that cannot be stopped.
There won’t be one single ruler in this new reality, nobody on Earth will be considered a second-rate player. All nations are equal and sovereign.”
Austria will be unable to manage without Russian gas supplies this year without enormous consequences, as the country has no access to LNG, Alfred Stern, head of Austrian energy company OMV, says.
“Any diversification would mean increased investment in expensive infrastructure to gain access to more expensive gas. The exit from Russian gas comes at a cost,” he told Die Presse newspaper.
