Page 9 - FSUOGM Week 13 2022

FSUOGM PIPELINES & TRANSPORT FSUOGM

Russia suggests bitcoins as

means for gas payments

RUSSIA RUSSIA has suggested that so-called “friendly” allies and neutral countries as well.
nations could pay for its gas supplies using bit- “We have been proposing to China for a long
Bitcoins have been coin, as Moscow looks to phase out the use of time to switch to national currencies like rubles
suggested as a payment euros and US dollars in its trade. and yuan,” Zavalny said. “With Turkey, it could
option for friendly The suggestion by the head of Russia’s State be lira and rubles. You can also trade in bitcoins.”
states. Duma energy committee Pavel Zavalny on Bitcoin is a decentralised digital currency
March 26 came two days after Russian President without a central bank or single administrator.
Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would Zavalny’s suggestion comes despite the fact that
demand that over 45 countries which the Krem- China’s Communist Party has banned the use
lin has judged as “unfriendly” because of their of bitcoin and other crypto currencies because
imposing of sanctions would have to pay for Rus- they can provide opportunities for illicit finan-
sian gas in rubles rather than other currencies. cial activities such as money laundering. Bitcoin
He ordered Russia’s central bank to prepare the mining, whereby new bitcoins are produced
ground to implement this requirement within through the solving of computational puzzles,
seven days. is also extremely energy intensive, drawing con-
Now it seems Moscow is also taking aim at cerns from China and a number of countries
the use of euros and dollars in trade with Russia’s about the impact on the power grid’s stability. ™

POLICY

G7 opposes ruble payments

for Russian gas

RUSSIA THE G7 group of countries have all rejected signed.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s call for pay- Earlier on March 28, reporters asked Krem-
The G7 nations have ments for Russian gas to be made in rubles, Ger- lin spokesman Dmitry Peskov whether Russia
refused to follow man Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on might cut gas supply to European customers if
Russia's requirements. March 28. they did not follow the requirement.
Putin announced on March 23 that all pay- “We clearly aren’t going to supply gas for free,”
ments for Russian gas by so-called “unfriendly Peskov responded. “In our situation, it’s hardly
states” should be made in rubles, instructing possible and feasible to engage in charity for
Russia’s central bank and Gazprom to prepare to Europe.”
impose the requirement within a week. Already Moscow will take decisions in due course if
a number of European gas buyers have criticised European countries refuse to pay in Russia’s cur-
it as a violation of supply contracts, which stipu- rency, Peskov said.
late which currencies bills should be paid in. Economists believe that the decision could
“All G7 [energy] ministers agreed that this is help support the struggling Russian currency,
a unilateral and clear breach of existing agree- but at the same time it would also restrict Mos-
ments,” said Habeck, whose country holds the cow’s access to euros that it needs to service its
G7 presidency. “Payment in rubles is not accept- debts. ™
able and … we call on the companies concerned
not to comply with Putin’s demand.”
Habeck added that the demand showed that
the Russian leader had “his back against the
wall.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also reiter-
ated that ruble payments were not on the table,
stating that “the contracts we know lay down the
euro as payment currency and the companies
will pay according to the contracts they have

Week 13 30•March•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P9