According to the general director, the Austrian OMV wants its gas supplies from Russia Alfred Stern “Of course” continue to pay in euros and not in rubles: “We have no other contractual basis, I shouldn’t do anything like that,” he said, according to advance information from the TV channel Puls4 in a Puls24 interview that will be broadcast on Wednesday evening.
“I also saw the press release,” Stern said of the Russian President’s instruction to the Moscow government to only accept payments for gas in rubles. Stern: “No one has called us yet, we also have existing contracts, so it’s not agreed that way. I’ll wait and see if someone comes up to us.”
Putin’s surprising volte
Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the Russian government on Wednesday to stop accepting payments in dollars or euros. Deliveries would continue to be fully guaranteed, the Kremlin chief assured in a government video conference that was broadcast on state television. Payment for Russian goods in foreign currency has lost its meaning.
The “unfriendly states” that Russia has blacklisted are affected. This includes all EU countries, but also the USA, Canada and Great Britain.
Habeck: Breach of contracts
German Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has accused Putin of breaching contracts because of the announcement that future gas deliveries will have to be paid for in rubles. Habeck said on Wednesday in Berlin. The German government will now discuss this with European partners. Habeck made it clear that this shows once once more that Russia is not a stable partner.