BERLIN (Parliament Politics Magazine) – According to a media source, German power company Uniper would pay for Russian gas through a transfer to a Russian bank rather than a European bank.
They plan on making the payments in euros to a Russian account, a Uniper official told the Rheinische Post newspaper on Thursday.
Despite the fact that Russia has sought rouble payments for its gas, the payment system it has proposed calls for the use of Gazprombank accounts for converting payments made in dollars or euros into roubles.
This provides certain countries with a way to continue buying Russian gas in Western currency.
Given the reliance on Russian energy by so many EU members, the European Commission has stated that EU gas importers can participate in Russia’s payment programme if certain conditions are met.
The European Commission said last week that if importers of Russian gas indicated payment was complete immediately they deposited euros, rather than later when the euros were converted to rubles, sanctions would not be breached.
Uniper stated that it would be able to pay without violations. Austria and Hungary, among others, have expressed interest in following this path.
According to a report in the Financial Times, Eni of Italy, another of Gazprom’s major customers, is weighing its options.
According to Italian officials, the Rome-backed corporation has till the end of May to make a definitive decision, when its next payment for Russian supplies is due.
Gazprom, the Russian energy behemoth, had already announced that it has cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria as part of its harshest reaction yet to Western sanctions placed on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.
Bulgaria and Poland, both former Soviet satellites that have since joined the EU and NATO, are the only two European countries whose Gazprom contracts are set to expire in 2022, necessitating a hunt for alternatives.
Over the course of the war, Warsaw has been one of the Kremlin’s most vocal opponents.
Bulgaria has maintained better ties with Russia for a long time, but Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, who assumed office last year, has condemned the incursion. He was scheduled to meet Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Wednesday.
