Russian President Putin has taken a new decision in the face of european union sanctions over the Ukraine war. Putin has announced that they are considering selling natural gas to countries that are not friendly to Russia in rubles. Commenting on Putin’s statement, experts said: ‘Now the genie is out of the bottle. Either Putin will go or the system will be rebuilt.”
“We plan to switch to russian rubles in payments for the sale of natural gas to unfriendly countries,” Russian President Putin announced.
During a meeting with government officials in the capital Moscow, Putin made assessments of the Russian economy affected by sanctions.
Stressing that Western countries have taken illegitimate steps by freezing Russian assets, Putin said, “The West has actually damaged confidence in its own currencies. Now everyone knows that obligations in dollars and euros may not be met,” he said.
Putin pointed out that it is pointless for Russia to receive payments in dollars and euros in exports, “It is clear that it no longer means anything to us to receive payments in dollars, euros and some currencies when supplying our goods to the United States and the EU. We plan to switch to the Russian ruble in payments for the sale of natural gas to unfriendly countries,” he said.
The change will only create a change in the currency in payments, Putin said. Unlike some of our colleagues, we value our commercial reputation as a trusted partner and supplier.”
Putin added that he had instructed the Russian government and Gazprom to start the process for converting payments to rubles for the sale of natural gas.
RUBLE GAINS AFTER ANNOUNCEMENT
The Russian government approved the list of “unfriendly” countries for Russia on March 7th.
The approved list includes countries such as the United States, European Union countries, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan, Ukraine, Switzerland and Singapore, as well as 15 other countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia.
Following Putin’s statements, the dollar/ruble parity fell nearly 3 percent to below 100 for the first time since March 3.
EXPERTS: PUTIN PLAYS HIS LAST CARD
Commenting on Russian President Putin’s statement, former BOTAS Natural Gas Purchasing Agency Head Ali Arif Akturk said the world’s petro-dollar throne could be shaken. Akturk said that Putin is playing the biggest card he has, adding that there is no turning back from the statement. “Putin said that natural gas sales to unfriendly countries will be made in Russian Rubles. How about the Petrodos’ throne swinging? The genie’s out of the bottle now. Either Putin will go or the post-Brettonwoods system will be rebuilt,” he said.
GAS PRICES IN EUROPE ARE CLOSE TO 120 EURO AGAIN
Following Putin’s announcements, the price of natural gas, which starts at 97 euros in Europe, rose 22.42 percent to 118.75 euros.
The april gas contract price, which is traded at TTF, the Netherlands-based virtual natural gas trading point with the highest depth in Europe, opened at 97 euros per megawatt hour today, below 100 euros.
