Italian PM says Germany has already paid Russia in rubles for gas

The Prime Minister of Italy believes that European companies can pay for gas in rubles without violating the sanctions, as there has not yet been an official explanation.Earlier, German VNG agreed to pay for Russian gas through Mario Draghi's Gazprombank account.

Germany, which is the largest importer of Russian gas, has already paid for fuel supplies in rubles, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said, Bloomberg reports.

“In fact, the evidence we saw yesterday I think [shows] that Germany’s largest gas importer has already paid in rubles,” Draghi said, noting that most Russian gas consumers have already opened ruble accounts with Gazprom. .

The Italian prime minister believes that European companies can pay for gas in rubles without violating the sanctions, since "there is no official statement about what the violation of sanctions means."

“No one has ever said anything about sanctions for violation of payment in rubles,” he stressed.

Gas for rubles. How Russia will supply fuel to Europe. Infographics Business

On March 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the Russian side would refuse “all currencies that compromised themselves” in gas payments and would accept payment for it from unfriendly countries (in this list, all EU countries, the USA , Great Britain and other states) in rubles. The new requirement came into effect on April 1. Under the new scheme, countries that buy gas from Russia must open accounts with Gazprombank. They pay in euros through a bank, which will then convert the currency into rubles.

The European Commission said that the new payment scheme is contrary to the European sanctions regime. The head of the EC, Ursula von der Leyen, said that if the EU countries pay for gas in rubles, this will be considered a violation of sanctions, and called on European companies to disagree with Russia's demands.

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Reuters reported on the preparation of Germany's plan in the event of a Russian shutdown of gas Politics

Many EU countries refused to pay for gas in rubles. On April 27, Gazprom suspended deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria. German Chancellor Olaf Scholf stated that Berlin would continue to pay according to the contracts concluded, that is, in euros. The Bundestag then pointed out that following the scheme proposed by Moscow would be for Berlin a violation of its own sanctions, since "Germany would have to receive rubles from the Russian Central Bank."

At the same time, on May 10, the German gas company VNG - Verbundnetz Gas announced that it would pay the gas bill in euros through an account with Gazprombank. “We will pay the invoice amount, which will continue to be denominated in euros, to accounts with Gazprombank in accordance with the planned procedure, so that we can ensure timely payment to our supplier,” the company told Reuters. However, they did not answer the agency's question whether two accounts in euros and rubles were opened with Gazprombank.

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