Gas export bill ruble a few days later: Russia
Russia has warned Western nations that the bill to export billions of dollars worth of natural gas to Europe could start in a matter of days.
Moscow on Friday warned Western nations that implementation of the decision could begin in a few days.
Putin says Western nations have declared economic war on Russia by seizing Russian assets; That is why Russia no longer sees the need to take dollars or euros by exporting its products.
Gazprom, the world’s largest natural gas company, supplies 40 percent of Europe’s total gas.
The introduction of the ruble will strengthen the Russian currency, whose value has plummeted since the invasion of Ukraine.
The ruble rose 9 percent against the dollar shortly after Putin’s remarks on Wednesday. Concerns over whether European countries would be interested in paying for the ruble, led to a rise in gas prices in the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, Germany’s finance minister on Friday advised German energy companies not to comply with Moscow’s demand for a gas price in rubles.
Gas began to flow from Siberia to Europe in Soviet-built pipelines in the early 1970s; Putin’s announcement is also seen as a major turning point in Russia’s “gas politics.”
Even during the Soviet era, they used to pay their exported fuel bills in foreign currency.
Putin, who has ruled Russia since 1999, has long been dissatisfied with the dominance of the US dollar; The dollar, in its language, is the instrument of the “false empire” of the United States, which aims to destroy Russia.
The Kremlin has refused to discuss Putin’s plans for a ruble deal. Russia is the world’s top exporter of oil, gas and metals; In most cases, transactions in these products were done in dollars.
The European Union has also stepped up efforts to reduce Russia’s dependence on gas. But European consumers do not have a short-term alternative to meeting the demand for gas from elsewhere.
