The West should ignore Putin’s ruble bluff

Vladimir Putin has a clever idea: if the West no longer allows him to be part of the Western financial system, then he should pay for oil and gas in rubles.

The bluff worked: the gas price rose, the ruble strengthened and Putin gave the impression that he had regained the initiative on the economic battlefield.

But the Austrian energy company OMV reacted correctly by announcing that it would ignore Putin’s announcement. This is how everyone should do it.

In principle, not much would change as a result of the changeover. Today the West pays hard currency to Russian commodity groups. They have to give 80 percent of it to the central bank, but the remaining 20 percent remain within reach because of the closeness of these corporations to the state.