In a phone call he requested, he said that Russian President Vladimir Putin would enact a law requiring President Olaf Scholes (SPD) to pay the ruble for gas supply from April 1. Tagesspiegel learned this from government circles. The Kremlin also announced a phone call.
At the same time, Putin stressed in the conversation that nothing will change for the European agreement partners. Payments will be made exclusively in euros and, as usual, will be transferred to Gazprom Bank, which has not been affected by Western sanctions. The bank then converts the money into rubles.
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Scholz did not explicitly agree with this practice in conversation, but asked for written information to understand the process more accurately. The G7 agreement is in effect: Energy supplies will be paid exclusively in euros or dollars, as they were before the start of the Ukraine war. As stated in the agreements, this was stated in German government circles.
The new payment system has not yet been implemented
Putin had earlier instructed representatives of the gas company Gazprom and the central bank to develop mechanisms for paying customers of “friendly countries” in euros and dollars by this Thursday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that the new tariff would not take effect directly on Thursday. Gas distribution and payment are separate processes.
More about the Ukraine war on Tagesspiegel Plus:
At the same time, he recently stressed that Russia is not a charity: “No one will provide free gas, which can only be paid for in rubles.” Moscow justified its actions as an “economic war.” West.
It was initially unclear whether the gas supply stop in the room was currently off the table. The federal government has implemented the initial warning level of the gas emergency plan. The delivery shutdown could jeopardize hundreds of thousands of jobs in Germany – while Russia could lose billions in fees from Germany and other EU countries. (with dpa)
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