The measure will take effect on April 1
Russian President Vladimir Putin has greenlighted ruble gas payments for buyers from countries which placed sanctions on Russia in connection with Ukraine.
Putin signed a decree on Thursday demanding that these buyers open accounts in Russian banks to facilitate the payments.
The measure takes effect from April 1.
“If unfriendly countries do not pay in rubles starting from April 1, we will consider this a default on gas contracts, in which case the existing contracts will be scrapped,” the president said.
The ‘unfriendly’ states Putin referred to are the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Switzerland, the 27 nations of the European Union, and a number of smaller countries.
The move to switch to Russia’s national currency in gas payments was announced earlier this month in response to the unprecedented sanctions against the country, including the seizure of nearly half of the nations’s foreign reserves held abroad.
READ MORE: What happens if Russia turns off the gas taps to Europe
The announcement instantly sent the ruble surging from historic lows against the US dollar and the euro, with the Russian currency recovering nearly all its losses since the crisis in Ukraine began over a month ago.
For more stories on economy & finance visit RT’s business section
RT (Russia Today) is a state-owned news organization funded by the Russian government. The information provided by this news source is being included by the Libertarian Hub not as an endorsement of the Russian government, but rather because it is being actively censored by Big Tech, Western governments and the corporate press. During times of conflict it is imperative that we have access to both sides of the story so we can form our own opinions, even if both sides are spewing their own propaganda. The censorship of RT, despite likely being a propaganda outfit for the Russian government, reduces our ability to hear one side of the conflict. For that reason, the Libertarian Hub will temporarily republish the RSS feed from RT. Visit https://rt.com