Gas from Russia continues to flow to the rest of Europe. Despite concerns about a potential disruption in supplies amid tensions over European sanctions and calls for payments in rubles, Russia’s Gazprom announced that the pipelines are still sending gas west, saying that “notifications of new methods for payment in rubles were officially sent to the contractors today “but also writes the TASS agency that the government commission for the control of foreign investments in Russia reserves the right to issue exceptions to these rules for individual buyers.
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“Gazprom unconditionally and fully complies with the requirements of Russian law,” the company said in a statement, recalling that the new procedures for hostile countries came into force today. These buyers, it is reiterated, must open “special accounts in rubles and foreign currency with Gazprombank. “The conversion of foreign currency into rubles is carried out on the Russian markets. In case of incomplete payment, the Russians are allowed to close deliveries.
On Friday, 104.4 million cubic meters of gas will be “pumped” to Europe, Gazprom spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov said in a comment reported by the Interfax news agency. This is almost the maximum daily amount allowed in current contracts. This means that despite the Russian invasion of the country that began at the end of February, gas continues to flow through Ukrainian territory.
It also means that supplies will continue amid threats from the Kremlin to shut off taps unless payments for the gas start being made in rubles. Western sanctions triggered by the invasion of Ukraine have hurt the economy and devalued the ruble. Forcing payments in rubles would help prop up the currency. But the West opposed this request. A new proposal allowing payments in dollars or euros to a Russiancontrolled bank went into effect on Friday, but it’s unclear whether Western buyers have opened such accounts.
According to the reports of the Russian agency “Tass”, according to preliminary data, Gazprom reduced gas production in the first quarter of 2022 by 0.9% compared to the same period last year. Production amounted to 135 billion cubic meters. Gas exports to nonCIS countries fell by 27.1% (by 14.3 billion cubic meters) to 38.5 billion cubic meters in the first quarter.
“In March, exports increased to 9 European countries, notably Italy, Poland, Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia and Turkey,” the Russian gas giant said. “Gazprom continues to deliver gas according to customer requirements and in full compliance with contractual obligations,” the company added.
In addition, Gazprom’s average daily export increased by 17.1% to 493.5 million cubic meters in March compared to February. Gas exports to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline also continue to increase.