Gas distributors in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia plan to open ruble accounts with Gazprombank in Switzerland to meet Vladimir Putin's demand for gas payments in rubles, FT informed on Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the preparations.
Critics believe such actions will undermine EU sanctions, threaten EU unity, and provide the Russian economy with billions of euros in cash.
According to Putin's decree, from April 1, countries "hostile" to Russia must pay for gas in rubles. This is interesting because none of the countries listed above are on the list of countries "hostile" to Russia. In other words, instead of joining others in sanctions against Russia, they VOLUNTEER to help Russia get money for gas quicker and push up the exchange rate of the Russian currency in the process.
