Press and Information Office/TASS
Russian natural gas suppliers may settle with gas buyers from unfriendly countries in foreign currency if they collect debts for gas supplies from such buyers or if they repay the debt themselves, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decree, published on Friday on the legal information portal.
The decree specifies that settlements can be made in a foreign currency, using a special account opened by an authorized bank on the basis of the application of the Russian supplier. Indebtedness for gas supplies will be considered as repaid after crediting the foreign buyer on such account.
At the same time, the document said that "the repayment of the foreign buyer's debt under the contract for the supply of natural gas is not a ground for resuming natural gas supplies by the Russian supplier in case the foreign buyer fails to comply with the procedure established by this decree".
Putin shocked the European gas market at the end of March by signing a decree that ordered a full switch to ruble payments for Russian pipeline gas amid the Kremlin's standoff with the western nations over the invasion of Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin allowed natural-gas buyers from 'unfriendly' countries to pay debts for fuel in foreign currency, partly lifting a requirement for ruble-only payments.
Repayment of debt doesn't provide grounds for a resumption of Russian gas supplies to buyers that don't comply with other requirements of a presidential decree issued earlier this year, according to amendments published late Friday.
Supplies were subsequently cut off to some companies and countries, such as Poland and Finland, that refused the terms of the decree, which was seen as a means to spur demand for rubles after the United States and the European Union implemented stiff economic sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Putin's decree meant that buyers of Russian gas in Europe -- all EU countries were included in the "unfriendly" category -- had to buy rubles on the Russian market to pay for supplies.
The president defended the policy by saying that Western countries had “canceled the confidence in its currencies" by imposing sanctions on Russia for the war against Ukraine.
The change announced on December 30 to allow debt settlement does not automatically mean the resumption of gas supplies, according to the information published.
Putin previously ordered the central bank and the government to develop "the order of transactions for the purchase of rubles on the domestic market of the Russian Federation by gas buyers."
Russian gas giant Gazprom PJSC halted gas supplies to clients in Poland, Bulgaria, Finland, the Netherlands and Denmark, as well as supplies to Germany under a contract with Shell Energy Europe, after companies refused to comply with the decree. Other European companies opened special ruble and foreign-currency accounts at Gazprombank JSC, which was authorized to handle payments for natural gas.
Payment for Russian gas
Since April 1, buyers from unfriendly countries could pay for Russian gas only in rubles. However, taking into account the currency of contracts (which are usually dollars and euros), Moscow made a concession to its counterparts:
Customers would have to transfer money in foreign currencies to Gazprombank, which would buy rubles at stock exchanges and transfer them to special rubles accounts of importers to be paid from. At the same time, Russia will continue to supply gas in the volumes and at the prices fixed in the contracts concluded earlier.
The European Commission initially considered this scheme as a violation of the sanctions. However, as Bloomberg reported, the European Commission circulated new regulations according to which European importers would be able to continue paying for Russian gas without violating the sanctions imposed on Moscow, and open bank accounts for settlements in the currency stipulated by the contracts.
Gazprom supplies gas for Europe through Ukraine equaling 41.2 mln cubic meters via Sudzha
Gazprom supplies gas for Europe through Ukraine in the volume of 41.2 mln cubic meters per day via the Sudzha gas pumping station, a Gazprom representative told reporters, adding that the request for pumping through Sokhranovka had been rejected by the Ukrainian side.
"Gazprom supplies Russian gas for transit through Ukrainian territory via the Sudzha gas pumping station in the volume of 41.2 mln cubic meters confirmed by the Ukrainian side as of December 31. The request for the Sokhranovka gas pumping station has been rejected," he said.
On Friday, December 30, the pumping volume equaled 42.4 mln cubic meters.
Earlier it was reported on the website of the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU) that the transit of gas through Ukrainian territory might total around 42.4 mln cubic meters on December 31.
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