The Netherlands, one of the countries that buys Russian gas, today refused to pay for the fuel in rubles, Russia’s national currency. According to Dutch state company GasTerra, any gas supplies to the country will be suspended from tomorrow by decision of Vladimir Putin’s government.
Buying in foreign currency was one of the demands of Gazprom, the largest Russian gas exporter in the country.
“GasTerra has decided not to comply with Gazprom’s unilateral payment requests. These requests are a consequence of the decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin to pay for Russian supplies,” GasTerra said in an official press release. Said.
The original contract between GasTerra and Russia’s Gazprom ran until 1 October. With the suspension, approximately 2 billion cubic meters of contracted gas will not be delivered.
According to the Dutch company, this refusal is due to European Union sanctions. GasTerra argued that besides not wanting to risk possible violations, it is wary of the financial and operational risks of buying with rubles.
The company explained that “opening accounts in Moscow under Russian law and being controlled by the Russian regime poses a huge risk.”
According to GasTerra, such suspensions were foreseen and there was already a plan to purchase gas from other suppliers.
Putin orders natural gas to be paid in rubles
On March 31, the President of Russia signed a decree defining the purchase of natural gas from Russia in rubles only and extending this measure to mainly cover ‘enemy’ countries. These countries include all members of the European Union, of which the United States and the Netherlands are also a part.
The decision went into effect on April 1. At the time, Putin reportedly stated that “existing contracts will be interrupted if payment is not made in rubles”.
“No one is selling us anything for free, and we are not doing charity work. This means that existing contracts will be interrupted if they are not paid in rubles,” Putin said. Said.
source: Noticias
