The authorities of Germany and Italy allowed their companies to open accounts in rubles in order to continue paying for Russian gas without violating sanctions against the Russian Federation, Reuters reports, citing sources.
According to the news agency, Germany informed local importers that they could open ruble accounts, provided that payments to Gazprombank are made in foreign currency. Germany acted in close coordination with the European Union.
The Italian government also held consultations with the European Commission and received clarifications on how to legally buy Russian gas without violating sanctions, and notified the companies. Then, the Italian energy company Eni announced the start of the procedure for opening two settlement accounts with Gazprombank - in euros and rubles.
Recall that in late March, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed to transfer payments for Russian gas supplies to European countries, which the Kremlin considers "unfriendly", into rubles. The scheme assumes that euros are transferred to the Gazprombank account and converted into rubles. The company transfers the payment to a foreign currency account, the bank sells the currency on the stock exchange, and credits the rubles to the ruble account. Russia recognizes the payment as completed only after the funds are credited to the ruble account.
