Kommentar: Fordi ingen seriøst sælger fra russisk olie og gas, betyder det, at vestlige lande effektivt vil støtte og endda STYRKE den russiske valuta!


Gas Russia
© Sputnik / Alexey Vitvitskiy
Rusland vil nu kun acceptere betaling for gaseksport til 'uvenlige lande' i rubler, sagde præsident Vladimir Putin på et møde med regeringen onsdag.

Præsidenten forklarede, at Rusland planlægger at opgive alle 'kompromitterede' valutaer i betalingsafregninger. Han tilføjede, at illegitime beslutninger fra en række vestlige lande om at indefryse Ruslands aktiver ødelagde al tillid til deres valutaer.

'Jeg har besluttet på kortest mulig tid at implementere et sæt foranstaltninger til at ændre betalingerne for - ja lad os starte med dette - for vores naturgas leveret til de såkaldt uvenlige lande i russiske rubler, det vil sige at stoppe med at bruge alt kompromitteret valutaer til transaktioner,' sagde den russiske præsident.


Kommentar: Delvist oversat af Sott.net fra Best of the Web: Putin flips sanctions, demands rubles for Russian gas from 'hostile' countries, says credibility of dollar and euro is 'destroyed'


"It doesn't make sense to deliver our goods to the EU and the US and get paid in dollars and euros," he added.

Putin gave the Central Bank and the government a week to determine the procedure for operations for buying rubles on the domestic market for importers of Russian gas.

The president added that Russia will continue to supply gas in accordance with the volumes and pricing principles of the contracts. Only the currency of payment will change.

The announcement caused a spike in the cost of contracts for gas supply at the TTF European hub, Forbes Russia quoted data from the Intercontinental Exchange as indicating. During Wednesday's trading, the gas price rose from €97 per megawatt hour (MWh) to approximately €108.5 per 1MWh, but after the president's speech, it jumped by another €10 to €118.75 per 1MWh, before retreating to €114 per 1MWh as of 1pm GMT.

In the past month, Russia has been hit with several rounds of unprecedented international sanctions over its military operation in Ukraine. The US, EU, and their allies have cut off the country from their financial systems, limited dollar and euro transactions, and froze roughly $300 billion in Russian forex reserves abroad, among other measures. At the same time, they have continued to buy Russian oil and gas.


Credibility of dollar and euro 'destroyed' - Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Western sanctions against his country have dealt a large blow to public trust in the two major Western currencies. Many US allies have joined together to impose sweeping restrictions on Moscow in response to its ongoing military offensive in Ukraine.

Putin argued 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. He said that the ruble will be used for the sale of Russian natural gas to, what Moscow considers to be, "hostile" countries.

"During the last few weeks, as you know, several Western countries adopted unlawful decisions to freeze Russian assets," Putin outlined during a government meeting held via video link. "The West has de facto destroyed the credibility of its currencies."

"The United States and the EU have practically defaulted on their obligations before Russia. Some have suspected this, but now everyone in the world knows that obligations in the [US] dollars and euros can be left unfulfilled. "


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Ruble rockets on gas currency switch

The ruble has surged on Wednesday after the announcement that payments for gas exports to certain Western countries will be switched to Russia's domestic currency.

The Russian currency immediately rose to a three-week high of 95 rubles against the dollar, before settling below 100. It also gained 3.5% against the EU's currency, trading at 110.5 rubles per euro.

The ruble plunged to historic lows earlier this month as unprecedented Western sanctions hit the Russian economy, dropping to record lows of 132 rubles per dollar and 147 rubles per euro on March 7. In mid-February, the currency's exchange rate was around 75 rubles per dollar and 85 rubles per euro.