Russia won't start accepting rubles for supplying gas on Mar 31: Kremlin Press Secy Peskov

Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has announced that they will not start accepting Rubles for supplying Russian natural gas supply to unfriendly countries on March 31, Interfax reported. Peskov pointed out that the process involving deliveries and payments requires a certain amount of time. He made the statement in response to a question about new rules of payment for Russian gas taking effect on Thursday, March 31. 

Dmitry Peskov stated that "it's not like" the countries will receive the delivery tomorrow and the payment needs to be made in rubles. He added that it will take a longer time for "technological reasons," as per the Interfax report. Peskov informed that the process involving the payments of Russian natural gas in Rubles will be made public. In response to a question about the way the proposals will be sent to the Russian President, Dmitry Peskov stated that he does not have the details yet, however, the information would be available. The Kremlin Press Secretary asserted that Russia's President Vladimir Putin has given the order for switching the currency of payment for gas supplies to Ruble and it will be executed. Earlier, Putin had announced that Russia will accept Rubles for supplying natural gas to unfriendly countries. 

G7 Energy ministers reject Putin's demand to pay for Russian gas in rubles 

The energy ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union Energy Commissioner held the discussion virtually on March 28. During the virtual meeting, they rejected Russian President Putin's demand to pay for supply of Russian gas in rubles, according to the joint statement of G7 Energy ministers. The energy ministers agreed that the contracts need to be "respected" and payments for delivery of oil must be made in euros or dollars. Furthermore, the Energy ministers stated that they would urge the companies in their countries to not agree to Russian President Vladimir Putin's demand.  

The joint statement of G7 Energy ministers reads, "They rejected Putin’s demand that gas deliveries must be paid in rubles, and reaffirmed that agreed contracts for gas deliveries must be respected, since most of the gas supply contracts explicitly stipulate payment in euros or dollars. The G7 partners therefore agreed to call on the companies based in their countries not to accede to such demands."

Image: AP