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President Vladimir Putin has said Russia will soon require
"unfriendly" countries to pay for fuel in roubles, raising alarm
about a possible gas supply crunch in Europe.
Putin has ordered the Russian central bank and Gazprom to
prepare the payment scheme by March 31 amid Western sanctions
against Russia for its "special military operation" in Ukraine.
Countries in the European Union, where Gazprom accounts for
about 40% of gas supplies, have stated their refusal to pay for
Russian gas in roubles.
"Gazprom ... is indeed working on an option of a complete
stoppage of gas supplies to 'unfriendly countries' and is
evaluating the consequences of such measures," the newspaper
wrote.
Kommersant said Gazprom had declined to discuss the issue with
the newspaper. Gazprom did not immediately respond to a Reuters
request for comment.
The Kremlin's spokesman said on Wednesday that customers will
not be obliged to switch to roubles as soon as Thursday as
"payments and delivery is a time-consuming process".
Germany, Russia's largest gas client, will continue to pay in
euros or dollars, a government spokesman said on Wednesday,
adding that Putin had told the German chancellor that nothing
would change for European partners, despite his plan for rouble
payments.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by David Clarke)
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