Leaders
from some European Union member states have claimed that Moscow's
demand that “unfriendly” countries pay rubles for Russia’s gas could
breach supply contracts, Reuters reported .
On Wednesday, Russian
President Vladimir Putin ordered that gas contracts with “unfriendly
countries” – those responsible for sanctions against Russia – be settled
in rubles only. The announcement sent European gas prices soaring,
raising concerns of a possible energy crunch in the EU.
German
chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday the currency that his country’s
companies must pay for Russian fossil fuels is fixed in their contracts.
“There are fixed contracts everywhere, with the currency in which the
deliveries are to be paid being part of these contracts... in most cases
it says euros or dollars,” Scholz said after arriving at the EU summit
in Brussels.
Scholz was echoed by Italian Prime Minister Mario
Draghi, who said “This is basically a breach of contract, this is
important to understand.”
“We will not allow our sanctions to be
circumvented,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
stated, noting that “the time when energy could be used to blackmail us
is over.”
According to analysts, ruble payments would be possible
without breaking EU sanctions, which do not directly hit oil and gas
supplies but target banks that could be involved in the transactions.
Russian
gas accounts for 40% to 45% of Europe's total consumption. Daily EU gas
imports from Russia this year have varied between €200 million to €800
million, according to estimates.
President Putin said that
Western sanctions against his country have dealt a large blow to public
trust in the two major Western currencies. Putin said that the penalties
showed it “makes no sense anymore” to sell Russian goods in the US and
the EU while receiving payment in dollars or euros.
Anonymous
They can say anything they want, Putin can just cut off oil and gas claiming selling them to the EU or other unfriendly countries is a security risk. Why? Because Russian oil ang gas are being used to manufacture weapons and tanks now sent to Ukraine to fight Russia. This is as valid an argument as saying Huawei's 5G is a threat to the USA and EU countries, without any evidence, and therefore must be banned.
ReplyDeleteIf Putin is pushed, he may just have to sign an 'Executive Order' putting the issue beyond argument. What contract are they claiming when all Huawei contracts with USA and other EU countries can be contravened and rescinded by just an 'Executive Order' whatever is written on them?
ReplyDeleteBiden has declared that if an inch of NATO Territory is attacked, the Response shall be consequential.
Putin may give Biden a surprise of his life.
World War 3 shall mean China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, NATO, US, Europe and Most Others involved.
President Biden game for it??
Japan Baffled by Putin's Simple Demand to Pay for Russian Gas in Rubles
ReplyDeleteOn Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said “unfriendly countries” would continue to receive Russian natural gas in volumes and prices fixed in contracts, but are now to pay for the commodity in the country’s national currency.
In Asia, these include Japan, South Korea, and China's Taiwan, which import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia’s Sakhalin-2 and Yamal LNG projects.
Commenting on the development, Japanese Finance Minister Shun’ichi Suzuki claimed that Tokyo is confused about Russia’s demand, which is actually rather simple - no ruble means no gas.
Japan is the biggest importer of Russian LNG in Asia, purchasing 6.84 million tons of liquefied gas from the country in 2021, according to Refinitiv data, which is nearly 9% of its total LNG imports.
“Frankly speaking, we do not yet fully understand the goals and how this will be carried out… the government is currently in discussions with the responsible ministries and agencies to assess the situation,” Suzuki state.
Russia's goal is clear - retaliation for Japan's sanctions.
After Japan imposed far-reaching economic penalties on Russia following its special military operation in Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Japan is damaging Russian interests by taking an "obviously unfriendly" stance toward the country, and withdrew from negotiations with Japan for a peace treaty to formally end World War II hostilities.
In addition to exiting the peace talks, Russia ended visa-free travel to a chain of Russian-controlled islands called the Northern Territories by Tokyo and the Southern Kurils by Russia.
On Friday, Russian military said it has started a military exercise involving more than 3,000 troops on a chain of islands including those disputed with Japan, Russian news agency Interfax reported.
Japan is basically staring shit. It does not have any ground not to abide by the ground rules.
ReplyDeleteJapan does not understand and is confused? When the shit hits the fan, they will understand.
ReplyDeleteDid they not also understand that poking the Russian Bear is going to be a costly exercise.
Not to worry Mr Suzuki. Japan can still buy all the oil and gas from USA, at five to ten times the price that they bought from Russia.
The world can also be divided into those that have nuclear bombs and those without nuclear bombs. Putin have been teaching the world what the meaning of the real currencies(oil,gas,land, minerals, etc) and the fake printed paper dollars. Putin teaches you that only those countries without nuclear bombs would be hit. Those countries with nuclear bomb would not be crazy to hit each others. That is lesson 101.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteNorth Korea Kim Jong En is now the Nemesis of the US.
Cheers
Putin is right. Selling real goods for fiat banana notes is silly. And the irony is that those fiat money have now been used to threaten and sanction any country that the USA pleases.
ReplyDeleteSomeone must stop this yoke of modern slavery and countries like Russia, China, India, Iran and Venezuela making an effort is a step in the right direction. Surely countries like Cuba and North Korea, among others, will welcome that.