Switching to payment in rubles will take some time due to technical problems to be solved. These are the words of Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov about the transition to paying for Russian gas in rubles, announced by Vladimir Putin himself last week. The changeover therefore does not begin on March 31, the deadline originally planned by the Kremlin. Peskov told reporters that the trial would not start this week due to technical reasons and technological issues.
Specifically, Putin had ordered the government to issue a directive requiring Russian gas giant Gazprom to convert into rubles supply contracts with countries that have activated sanctions against Moscow. A modification that is indeed extremely complex. Payments and deliveries are timeconsuming processes. This means that everything that will be delivered tomorrow will not have to be paid for in rubles by the evening, Dmitry Peskov added. A delay that, for many analysts, has to do with the dry No from the West to changing Russia’s gas supply contracts. Germany is one of the toughest countries. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck described Putin’s demand to receive ruble transactions as a breach of contract.
Not only gas in rubles, but also wheat and crude oil
The Kremlin then let it be known that it welcomed the idea of extending ruble payments to other Russian exports besides gas. It was the President of the Duma Vyacheslav Volodin who suggested expanding the list of goods exported in rubles, in particular fertilizers, grain, oil, petroleum, coal, metals and wood. An idea that should be worked out, Peskov told reporters when asked about it. If there is any indication from the head of state, it will certainly be in the form of concrete proposals.