FThe Russian government decided not to pay for Russian gas in rubles. Earlier, Gazprom stopped supplies to Poland and Bulgaria for non-payment of gas under new conditions
Finland will not pay for Russian gas in rubles in accordance with the decision of the European Commission, which considered such a measure a violation of contracts, said Finnish Minister for European Affairs and Corporate Governance Titti Tuppurainen, Helsingin Sanomat reports.
“We have made a decision in the government committee on economic policy that Finland will not agree to payments in rubles. The decision was already made in early April,” Tuppurainen said.
The Minister expressed confidence that Moscow intends to divide European countries and establish control over them. “This can be regarded as blackmail by Russia and part of [its] geopolitical ambitions,” she added. According to Tuppurainen, the decision of the Finnish government has already been handed over to the Gasum energy company, which owns a contract for the supply of gas from Russia.
“Companies are responsible for their own operational business decisions. Responsibility cannot be transferred to anyone else,” Tuppurainen stressed, noting that gas companies should independently study contracts for compliance with the refusal to pay for rubles.
The minister added that Finland is striving to abandon gas imports from Russia as soon as possible. “The goal is to get rid of all payments to Russia so that we don’t use them to finance Putin’s military fund. It would be undesirable to find ourselves in a situation where we have to pay for a breach of contract,” Tuppurainen summed up.
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The transfer of all payments for gas supplies to rubles was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of March, he instructed to apply this measure to “unfriendly countries”. This list includes Finland, all other EU countries, the USA, Japan, Micronesia, San Marino and others. Putin justified his decision by the desire to “abandon the use of all compromised currencies in such calculations”, which he believes should be achieved “in the very near future”. The scheme has been in effect since April 1.
European countries and companies are divided in their assessments of Moscow’s decision. The European Commission has repeatedly said that following the requirements for payment in rubles will be a violation of the sanctions imposed against Russia. “Companies with such contracts should not agree with the requirements of Russia. This was a violation of sanctions, which means that there is a high risk for companies,” said the head of the EC Ursula von der Leyen at the end of April.
Disagreement with Russia’s demand was announced in Paris, Berlin, London and other capitals, including Warsaw and Sofia. Gazprom announced the suspension of supplies to Poland and Bulgaria due to non-payment in rubles.
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