German utility company Uniper would not violate European Union directives if it opened a euro account in Russia to pay for gas supplies, according to a spokesman for the German Economy Ministry, quoted by Bloomberg.
“For us, the number of the account does not matter, as it does not matter whether one or two accounts are opened in the same place,” said spokesman Stephan Haufe, in a regular briefing for the press.
“For us, what matters is whether the payment is made in euros and dollars, as stipulated in the contracts,” he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered buyers to open two Gazprombank accounts – one in foreign currency and one in rubles – with the Russian bank converting money deposited as payments into Russian currency.
The EU said last week that the regulation would violate sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine – although it left a “window” open for exceptions. European officials have emphasized that setting up a ruble account with Gazprombank would be a breach of EU sanctions against Moscow.
Uniper has said it is considering paying for Russian gas in euros in an account based in Russia rather than Europe.
The German company believes that there may be a solution to the question of how these resources will be converted into rubles.
The European Commission has emphasized that the creation of a euro account does not infringe EU regulations to the extent that the payment is deemed to have been made once its payment in euro has been settled.
Slovakia questioned the position on Friday, saying Gazprombank had automatically opened new euro and ruble accounts for European importers and, with their activation, was seeking their consent so that Russia’s central bank could convert it. currency. This would be a breach of EU sanctions.
Gazprom cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria on Wednesday, threatening to cut supplies if payments were not made in rubles.
German Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck warned that the possibility of power outages in other countries should be taken seriously. It is not clear how Russia would react if companies made payments in euros, the German government’s No. 2 added.
Source: Capital
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