Russian President, Valdimir Putin, signed a decree that forces “hostile” countries to pay in rubles for gas supplystarting this Friday. This measure responds to the sanctions stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Starting this Friday, buying countries will have to have a ruble account in Russian banks; before the possible refusal, Putin threatened to suspend the contracts.
“The existing risks are, of course, unacceptable to us” Putin warned.
For what purpose is this measure taken?
The purpose of this change is to deal with sanctions and their economic consequences in Moscow; In addition to this, another recent measure was the increase in interest rates from 9.5% to 20%.
Both Putin and chief spokesman Dimitri Peskov said there will be no change in supply and prices for countries that pay.
“There will be no changes for recipients of Russian gas who pay”said Peskov.
Germany and France already get ready to stop imports of Russian gas, this has been confirmed by the French Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire.
Likewise, the German Economy Minister spoke about the possibility that there will be no more Russian gas.
“There may be a situation tomorrow where, in very particular circumstances, there is no more Russian gas… It is up to us to prepare for this scenarioand that is what we are doing,” said German Economy Minister Robert Habeck.