Several buyers of Russian gas have already agreed to convert payments into rubles, the country is waiting for a decision from other importers, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak wrote in his article for the Energy Policy magazine.

“Several buyers have already agreed with the transfer of gas payments into rubles, we are waiting for decisions from other importers,” the Deputy Prime Minister wrote, adding that the conditions for buyers remain as comfortable as possible.

The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that payments for gas are transferred into rubles because Russia wants to secure a 100% guarantee of payment.

“I would like to emphasize that the transfer of payments for gas into the national currency on the Russian side is logical and caused by objective reasons – the desire to receive payment for the delivered goods with a 100% guarantee. Such confidence in Russia is given by the payment pattern we proposed, in contrast to the one that has been in force until recently,” Novak noted.

He recalled that the EU plans to compensate the refusal of Russian energy sources by diversifying gas supplies, accelerating the transition to renewable types of gas, replacing gas in heating systems with other types of fuel and generating electricity from other sources.

“All these measures, according to the European Commission, will reduce the demand for Russian gas by two-thirds (67%) by the end of this year. They also plan to achieve energy independence by increasing the share of renewable energy sources. However, in March they noted the decline in wind generation,” Novak stressed.

Instead of Russia, American LNG producers claim to be the leading gas suppliers to Europe, who intend to take a significant share of the European market, he said.

“But there are a number of important nuances. The lack of the necessary infrastructure for receiving LNG will not allow increasing supplies quickly,” the Deputy Prime Minister concluded.

Source: Agencies