Bloomberg: Gazprom unveils gas payment procedure to EU customers without violating sanctions

MOSCOW, May 7 – RIA Novosti. Gazprom announced to its European customers the decree of the President of Russia of May 4 on the payment of gas supplies in rubles. transmits Bloomberg quoted a text that he got his hands on.

According to the agency, the company assured that the document guarantees transparency of money transfers of foreign customers and excludes the action of a “third party” in the calculations. Therefore, the authors of the article think that the process can be done without the participation of the Bank of Russia.

On May 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the temporary procedure for the fulfillment of financial obligations in the field of corporate relations to certain foreign creditors. He notes that after receiving money from a foreign client in a special foreign exchange account, the authorized bank transfers it to the correspondent accounts of the National Clearing House. They are then credited to accounts that provide foreign exchange buying and selling transactions.

On March 23, Putin announced that the payment for gas supply was transferred to the EU countries and other states taking restrictive measures against Russia in rubles. He then signed a corresponding decree, emphasizing that if non-friendly countries do not pay in rubles from April 1, Russia will see this as a default on gas contracts.

According to the new plan, Gazprombank will open special currency and ruble accounts for foreign buyers to pay for gas. They will be able to transfer money to the first account in the currency specified in the contract for the supply of blue fuel, the bank will sell it on the Moscow Stock Exchange, after which they will credit the gas buyer’s account in rubles and pay with the gas supplier – Gazprom.

Due to Bulgaria and Poland’s refusal to switch to this plan, Gazprom stopped deliveries to these countries on April 27. On the same day, Bloomberg, citing sources, wrote that ten European buyers of Russian gas have opened accounts with Gazprombank, and four of them have already paid rubles for gas. The agency also announced that new cuts from European consumers are likely in the second half of May, when the next payments will be made.