Russia will ease restrictions on how foreign customers pay for Russian gas to avoid new US sanctions on its top bank.
According to a decree published on December 5, President Vladimir Putin abolished the requirement to pay through Gazprombank. Previously, from 2022, Russia required European customers to pay for Russian gas in rubles through Gazprombank.
The December 5 rule change will allow Russian gas importers to use other banks or pay “in other ways agreed by the Russian supplier with the foreign buyer”.
Russia has cut off pipeline gas supplies to countries such as Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland, but Hungary and Slovakia continue to receive gas under long-term contracts with Russian state energy company Gazprom.
On December 4, Budapest announced that it had asked Washington for a sanctions exemption to allow it to continue trading through Gazprombank.
About two-thirds of Hungary's gas consumption still depends on Russia.
“Gazprombank is an important financial channel for oil and gas payments to Europe. The blacklisting of the bank has caused the Russian ruble to fall and will affect gas payments to Hungary and Slovakia,” said Maria Shagina, a sanctions expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Last week, Russia's Central Bank suspended currency trading as the ruble suffered a sharp fall in value following the announcement of the latest sanctions against Russia.
However, Ms. Shagina pointed out that after Gazprombank, other organizations may also face new sanctions against Russia.
