The EU considers the payment by Hungary of gas from Russia in rubles a violation of sanctions

Payment in rubles for Russian gas would be a violation of sanctions against Moscow, said the head of the European Commission. She noted that so far "everything is in order." Orban previously allowed this option,

If Budapest pays for Russian gas in rubles, as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban allowed, this would be a violation of European sanctions. This was stated by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in an interview with CNN.

“What [President Vladimir] Putin is proposing is converting euros into rubles and then paying the gas bill – that would be a violation of sanctions. If you do this, pay in rubles, you will violate the sanctions , you will bypass the sanctions that we have imposed against Russia, ”said the head of the European Commission.

Previously, Hungary had always adhered to European sanctions: as long as Budapest did not pay in rubles, “everything is in order,” von der Leyen assured. In her opinion, the European Union has never been so "solid, resolute, fast" before.

“And I think that for each of our member states, the question also arises: do I want to be the first to break this unity? von der Leyen added. - I think not".

Russia has translated payments for gas into rubles. What it changes for Europe Business

Orban allowed payments in rubles for Russian gas imports a day earlier, on April 7. He said that such a scenario is possible if a corresponding request is received from Russia, Reuters reported. Earlier, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that the EU authorities "do not play any role" in the deal on Russian gas supplies, which is based on a bilateral contract between Gazprom and the Hungarian state company MVM.

Gazprom and MVM are negotiating the transfer of a long-term contract for payment in rubles, Russian Ambassador to Hungary Evgeny Stanislavov said in early April. “These issues are being discussed,” the diplomat said.

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The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry considered the position of Hungary "unfriendly." “Such statements also contradict the consolidated position of the European Union, which has fundamentally refused to satisfy the Russian whim,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is sure.

Reuters learned about EU plans to start a disciplinary procedure against Hungary Politics

In early March, Orban opposed the imposition of sanctions on Russian oil and gas. In his opinion, such a move would be a heavy burden for Hungary, since 90% of the houses are heated with gas, which is mainly purchased from Moscow.

Pro-Russian politicians won elections in Hungary and Serbia Politics

The decree on the transfer of payment for Russian gas into rubles for countries unfriendly to Russia (the list includes all EU states, the USA , etc.) was signed on March 31 by President Vladimir Putin , the scheme began to operate on April 1. Foreign buyers need to open two accounts with Gazprombank - one in rubles and one in foreign currency. They, according to the calculation scheme, will transfer payment in foreign currency to the appropriate account, after which the bank will buy rubles on it on the Moscow Exchange and credit the funds received to the buyer's ruble account to pay for gas to the supplier.

The Kremlin believes that such a step was introduced "to secure our trade so that dollars and euros are not stolen from us", it accelerates "the process of erosion of the world reserve currency." “And this is an erosion of confidence in the dollar and the euro, which have always been such a backbone for all international settlements,” said Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian president.

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