Bloomberg: Gazprom is trying to convince European partners that payment in rubles is not a violation of sanctions

The Russian company Gazprom convinces European gas buyers that calculations in rubles are not a violation of sanctions. This version is contained in the letter of Gazprom, sent to partners, which Bloomberg refers to.

The letter, among other things, states that the provisions of the new decree of the President of the Russian Federation of May 4 clarify the scheme of calculations in rubles, approved by the Russian leadership at the end of March. It follows from the new decree that the foreign currency will be transferred to rubles through the National Clearing Center. Gazprom claims that the procedure ensures the “transparency of the movement of funds” from foreign buyers and excludes the possibility of participating in the “third party”. At the same time, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation will not be involved in the calculations.

On March 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on gas trading with "unfriendly" countries. According to him, payment should be made from a ruble account in a Russian bank. At the end of March, the seven largest economies in the world - Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada, France, Japan and the USA - unanimously rejected this demand. Later, Poland and Bulgaria joined them, and the European Commission announced that the payment scheme proposed by Russia is an attempt to circumvent sanctions.

Currently, the supply of Russian gas to Poland and Bulgaria has already been terminated due to the lack of acceptable for partners of the payment method. Later in May, the terms of payments are expired, determined for other European countries receiving gas from the Russian Federation.