Gas compressor station. Archival photoMOSCOW, 26 May. The member states of the European Union, for the most part, made a concession and obeyed Russia's demand to pay for gas supplies in rubles because of the fear of a possible energy crisis. The American edition of The Washington Post came to this conclusion. Such a development of events, the publication says, indicates the victory of official Moscow. Nevertheless, The Washington Post clarifies, the EU is discussing measures to reduce dependence on Russian energy carriers. However, European countries are still unable to find alternative suppliers and are trying with all their might to avoid a crisis. Since April 1, Russia began to accept payments for gas from unfriendly states in rubles in order to get away from settlements in dollars and euros. Vladimir Putin stressed that the refusal to operate in Russian currency would be considered as a failure to fulfill obligations under the agreements. According to the new scheme, Gazprombank will open special foreign currency and ruble accounts for foreign buyers to pay for gas. The buyer will be able to transfer funds to the first account in the currency specified in the contract for the supply of «blue fuel», the bank will sell it on the Moscow Exchange, after which it will credit rubles to the account of the gas buyer and from it will pay off with the gas supplier — Gazprom. At the end of April, Gazprom suspended fuel exports to Bulgaria and Poland due to non-payment. At the same time, the company warned that it would reduce transit to other countries if Sofia and Warsaw began illegal fuel sampling. Shipments to Finland have been cut off since May 21.
Geopolitika: Europe will fall apart and pay a high price for the Ukrainian crisis rising prices for energy resources and a surge in inflation due to the imposition of sanctions against Russia after the start of a special operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. The measures mainly affected the financial sector and the supply of high-tech products, but calls to reduce dependence on Russian energy resources began to sound louder in Europe, and many brands announced their withdrawal from Russia. The Kremlin called these restrictions an economic war, but noted the readiness for such a development of events.< strong>Read the full text of the article on the InoSMI website >>
