A previous presidential decree required "unfriendly" countries (those that impose sanctions on Russia) to pay for Russian gas in rubles.
RT reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on December 30 allowing "unfriendly" Western countries to pay their gas debts in foreign currency instead of rubles. The Decree is published on the government's official portal on legal information.
The new document amends a presidential decree from March, which requires all payments for Russian gas to be made in rubles.
At the time, President Putin said foreign governments were using their currency as weapons, meaning Russia should not use it in payments.
The March decree came shortly after Western countries imposed sanctions on Russia over its military campaign in Ukraine. The sanctions make it almost impossible for Russia to conduct transactions in Euros and USD.
The new decree dated December 30 allows the use of foreign currency to pay debts, transferred to foreign currency accounts designated by the Russian supplier. When recorded in the account, the debt is considered to have been paid.
However, according to the new decree, the payment of gas purchase debts does not mean Russia will continue to supply, unless buyers agree to pay for future deliveries in rubles.
The initial reaction to converting gas payments to rubles is very different, some opinions say that this policy cannot be considered legal because there is no provision on changing payment currencies in gas contracts.
Several countries, including Poland and Bulgaria, have said they do not agree with the plan and have been cut off from Russian supplies. However, many Western companies have eventually accepted Russian terms.
The list of countries that Russia considers "unfriendly countries" includes 27 members of the European Union (EU), the US, UK, Canada, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Ukraine and other countries, a total of about 50 countries.
