Russian Victory: Companies could pay in euros or dollars through a Gazprombank account inside Russia. The EU Commission finally agrees to ignore its own law, (speaking dictatorially for its 450 million citizens), and thus saving Capitalism from a Russian cutoff.
EU companies may be able to work around Russia’s demand to receive gas payments in rubles without breaching sanctions, if they pay directly to Russia in euros or dollars which are then converted into the Russian currency, the European Commission (EC) said on Friday, according to Reuters.
In an advisory document sent to member states on Thursday, the Commission reportedly said that Moscow’s gas-for-rubles proposal does not necessarily prevent ‘a payment process that would comply with EU sanctions against Russia’.
“EU companies can ask their Russian counterparts to fulfil their contractual obligations in the same manner as before the adoption of the decree, i.e. by depositing the due amount in euros or dollars.”
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EU rejected Moscow’s ruble-for-gas demand on 29th March.. but now agrees it ‘could be okay’
The bloc’s refusal to pay in Rubles followed a similar announcement by G7 countries. EU member states “won’t pay for Russian gas in rubles”, the European Commission said on Tuesday March 29th, rejecting Moscow’s March 31 deadlin. Russia allowed time to consider the matter, and finally it seems companies will be allowed to indirectly pay in rubles, giving a boost to the Russian currency and a blow to the dollar hegemony which for generations has allowed it to ‘just print trillions’..
Read more… Russia explains gas for rubles switch
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The plan is identical to what the Russian government had suggested earlier this month, except that it’s now proposed by the EU, saving face.
Brussels also said that, ‘before making payments, EU operators could make a clear statement that they consider their contractual obligations to be completed when they deposit euros or dollars with Gazprombank – as opposed to later, after the payment is converted into rubles’.
This document would get around the EU decree prohibiting payment in Rubles.
In true dictatorial fashion, ‘worse than Putin’, the European Commission has decided we can ‘comply with EU sanctions against Russia’ by not complying. But Europeans will be happy to avoid economic ruin merely over which currency their gas is paid in.
Proposed Fossil Fuel Embargo on Russia Collapsing
By proposing acceptance of the workaround by which payments are made to a bank in Russia which then changes the currency to Rubles the EU can save its economy from a gas cutoff.
Also Russia would be safe from the money being ‘frozen’ by sanctions in ‘western’ banks, as already happened to 300 billion dollars of their money which has been ‘illegally stolen’ by the USA.
In fact the gas has never stopped flowing. The Russian ‘invasion’ of Ukraine has carefully avoided damaging the gas pipelines to Europe, which are pumping at full pressure, along with the direct North Stream One gas pipeline.
According to the new guidelines, the sanctions regime does not prohibit companies from opening accounts with Gazprombank, in Russia, NOT in an EU branch, or from engaging with the bank to attempt to seek a solution.
However it remains to be seen what pressure and threats the US bosses will put on the EU to revoke this permission… will they now sanction the EU for not sanctioning Russia enough?
The Free 