A weak point: why Europe is struggling payment for gas in rubles

Marcel Salikhov, President of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to the Internet portal Bloknot.ru on the reluctance of the G7 countries to pay for Russian gas in rubles.

Marcel Salikhov notes that formally it would be possible to oblige Gazprom, as a state-owned company, to simply transfer 100, and not 80% of the proceeds in euros and dollars into rubles.

- But taking into account the possible blocking of the company's accounts, the scheme proposed by Vladimir Putin is safer for us. The transfer of settlements into rubles neutralizes the risks of Gazprom falling under sanctions that prohibit it from transactions with the euro and the dollar. The fewer settlements in euros and dollars, the lower the risks of freezing or withdrawing funds on the accounts of Russian companies or banks, Salikhov said.