Moscow According to Russian information, Germany will probably continue to be able to pay for gas deliveries in euros as before. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Thursday, according to the Interfax agency, that work is underway on a payment system under which the money will be paid in euros to Gazprombank, which is not affected by sanctions, then exchanged and transferred to Russia in rubles.
“The details will follow. We will not reveal the details now,” Peskov said. It was unclear whether the mechanism also applies to other European countries.
Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin had decreed last week that states that are “unfriendly” towards Russia – including Germany and all other EU countries – will have to pay for gas deliveries in rubles in future. The president was due to meet with representatives of the gas giant Gazprom and the Russian central bank on Thursday to set the exact procedure in motion.
According to Peskov, Putin’s instruction has been implemented and is to be presented on Thursday.
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At midday, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi also told journalists in Rome that Putin had assured European companies that the current gas contracts would continue. Russia’s president explained to him that the contracts remain in force and payments can continue to be made in euros and dollars, Draghi said. “What I understood – but I could also be wrong – is that the conversion (…) is an internal matter of the Russian Federation.”
Kremlin: The changeover should not bring any disadvantages for Germany
Putin phoned Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday to provide information about the conversion of payments from euros to rubles. Scholz confirmed that Germany would continue to pay for gas deliveries in euros or dollars, as stipulated in the contracts. Scholz did not agree to the payment method proposed by Putin, but asked for written information about it, said his spokesman Steffen Hebestreit.
The Kremlin had previously announced that switching to ruble payments for Russian gas should not put Germany at a disadvantage. Putin justified his ruble initiative with the fact that “in violation of the norms of international law, the foreign exchange reserves of the Bank of Russia were frozen by the member states of the European Union”. This was the EU’s reaction to Russia’s war against Ukraine. Putin had said that payments in euros and dollars were now of no value to the country.
More: All news about the Ukraine war in the live blog