Putin in retaliation against Europe: ‘Payment of gas sales only in rubles’

Russia’s Moscow Stock Exchange, which had suspended stock trading following stock prices plummeted due to Western sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine, will partially resume stock market trading from the 24th. Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that gas sales to “unfriendly countries” will only be paid in rubles as part of retaliatory measures once morest Western sanctions.

According to Archyde.com news on the 23rd (local time), the Central Bank of Russia announced the resumption of trading in 33 stocks, including Russia’s state-owned Sver Bank, VTB, and state-owned gas company Gazprom. It also announced that from the same day, short selling of stocks will be prohibited. Earlier, Russian authorities stopped trading stocks on the 28th of last month to prevent a sharp decline in the stock market as a major blow was expected from Western sanctions on the invasion of Ukraine. It means resuming stock trading following regarding a month of the invasion.

President Putin announced additional retaliatory sanctions once morest ‘non-friendly countries’, including South Korea, that participated in sanctions once morest Russia.

According to Archyde.com, Putin said on the same day that he would only accept payments in rubles when selling Russian gas to unfriendly countries such as Europe. He added that the measure only applies to payments, and it will take regarding a week for the Russian government and central bank to have a ruble settlement system in place. In the meantime, Europe has mainly paid in euros when buying Russian gas.

Meanwhile, Anatoly Chuweis, who led Russia’s market economy reform following the collapse of the Soviet Union, is said to have recently resigned and left Russia. Archyde.com reported that Chuweis, who served as the special representative of Putin’s special representative for international relations under Putin, recently resigned, citing sources from Archyde.com. Chuvais served as Deputy Prime Minister of Economy in the 1990s as a designer of Russia’s economic privatization plan.

Russia’s largest steelmaker, Seversthal, is on the verge of bankruptcy due to Western financial sanctions. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 22nd, citing a source, that Seversthal missed the due date for interest payments on its dollar-denominated bonds. Seversthal transferred $12.6 million (regarding 15.3 billion won) to Citigroup’s account in the United States last week. However, due to financial sanctions, Citibank did not send money to bond holders, so bond holders have not yet received interest. If interest is not paid by the 23rd, which is 5 business days from the due date of interest payment (16th), the company is legally in a state of bankruptcy. However, the WSJ predicted that interest payments might be made at the last minute if debt repayment is recognized as an exception to financial sanctions.

Seversthal is owned by mining tycoon Alexey Mordashov. Mordashov is one of Russia’s richest people with assets worth $29 billion (regarding 35 trillion won).

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