Ukraine war
Gas payments in euros? New demands from Moscow
The logo of the energy company Gazprom on a facility of the Russian state-owned company in St. Petersburg. Photo: Stringer/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The confusion about paying for Russian gas supplies continues. The Kremlin actually demanded settlement in rubles, which the West rejects. Now President Putin issues a decree.
Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin raises new demands for payment of Russian gas supplies. Western countries would have to open accounts with Gazprom Bank effective April 1. Otherwise, deliveries to the “unfriendly” countries would be stopped.
According to a decree signed by Putin, payments can still be made in euros or dollars to the Russian account. Gazprombank converts the money into rubles and transfers the amount in Russian currency to Gazprom. In the absence of payments, deliveries would be stopped, Putin said.
How is the federal government reacting?
Reserved. If the Russian decree is available, the government wants to “thoroughly examine and evaluate it,” said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection on Thursday of the German Press Agency. The chancellor persisted in his refusal to pay the bills in rubles. “The payment of Russian gas deliveries takes place in accordance with the existing contracts in euros and dollars,” explained Olaf Scholz (SPD) on Twitter. “That’s the way it is, it will stay that way, and I made that clear yesterday in my conversation with President Putin.”
Earlier this week, the G7 group of leading economic powerhouses and the European Union rejected calls for payments in rubles. In addition to Germany, the G7 also includes France, Italy, Japan, Canada, the USA and Great Britain.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) had already announced the early warning level of the gas emergency plan on Wednesday, the first of three possible levels. This means that the federal government is preparing for a significant deterioration in gas supplies. A crisis team is to monitor the situation closely.
What would change with the new requirements?
According to experts, little. “The bottom line is that not much should change for German companies,” said Ulrich Leuchtmann, head of the foreign exchange department at Commerzbank. Gazprombank is currently not subject to any significant financial sanctions, but this is also intended so that gas deliveries to the West can be paid for at all.
Expert Ulrich Wortberg from the Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen sees it similarly: “Ultimately, there will be little change in the previous method of payment if the customer countries continue to pay their gas bills in their national currencies and a Russian bank exchanges the foreign currency for rubles.”
How is the economy reacting?
The chairman of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, Oliver Hermes, called on the Russian government to continue to respect existing gas supply contracts. “With unilateral changes, Russia is endangering decades of energy relations with Germany and the EU and accelerating the exit from this business model.” Germany’s largest importer of Russian gas, the energy company Uniper, initially declined to comment on Putin’s recent statements.
What is the threat to the German economy as a whole?
“A potential stop to Russian gas supplies would have serious consequences for the German economy,” said Hermes, chairman of the Eastern Committee. «We cannot replace gas from Russia in the short term. Energy supplies from Russia were therefore deliberately exempted from the sanctions because we depend on them in the short and medium term.” As an energy source and raw material, natural gas is at the beginning of many value chains. Since households are given priority when it comes to deliveries, there is a risk of a complete standstill in production in some industries if deliveries are stopped. “Hundreds of thousands of jobs in energy-intensive and downstream industries are directly at risk as a result,” Hermes warned. “There is also a threat of cuts in basic services and pharmaceutical products.” He called for help for affected companies.
How much gas is currently coming from Russia?
According to the latest information from the Federal Ministry of Economics at the end of last week, the proportion of Russian gas deliveries in Germany has meanwhile fallen from 55 to 40 percent. Habeck promised that by the summer of 2024 it could be possible to become independent of Russian gas, apart from a few shares. In the case of oil and coal, Germany should manage to break away from Russia to a large extent in the course of this year.
What is the current supply situation?
According to the Federal Network Agency, the gas supply in Germany is stable. According to a management report published on Thursday, there were no impairments to gas deliveries to Germany. The Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia to Germany is delivering at a high level. The current filling level of the gas storage is 26.8 percent, there are slight storages.
Where will the energy come from in the future?
The federal government wants to promote more economical consumption and is also calling on citizens to save energy. The expansion of renewable energies should be promoted. Coal-fired power plants are to remain in reserve longer. In addition, the EU and Germany are trying to find new energy trading partners.