...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...
today threatened to turn off Europe's gas supplies from tomorrow if countries refuse to pay in roubles.
The Russian President, announcing a decree in televised remarks, said foreign buyers would have to 'open rouble accounts in Russian banks' which can be used to pay for 'gas delivered starting from tomorrow'.
'If such payments are not made, we will consider this a default on the part of buyers, with all the ensuing consequences. Nobody sells us anything for free, and we are not going to do charity either - that is, existing contracts will be stopped,' he said.
The move has been seen as a bid to bolster the Russian currency and economy, hit by Western sanctions, in order to fund the war. But Western companies and governments have rejected the move as a breach of existing contracts, which are set in euros or dollars.
The European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
relies on Russia for 40 per cent of its gas consumption, costing the bloc £340million (€400million) a day in contracts which are mostly settled in euros or dollars. According to Gazprom, 58 per cent of its sales of natural gas to Europa
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...and other countries as of January 27 were settled in euros. US dollars accounted for about 39 per cent of gross sales and sterling around three per cent.
A Kremlin decree published today sets out that contracts will be stopped if buyers do not sign up to the new conditions, including opening rouble accounts in Russian banks. The buyers can still pay in foreign currency and authorise the bank to sell that for roubles, which are placed in the second account, where the gas is formally purchased.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck rejected Putin's the demands as an unacceptable breach of contract, adding that the manoeuvre amounted to 'blackmail' and that he had not yet seen a new decree signed by Putin mandating gas payments in roubles.
Separately, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said German companies would continue to pay for Russian gas using euros as stipulated in contracts. 'By all means, it remains the case that companies want, can and will pay in euros,' he told a joint news conference with his Austrian counterpart Karl Nehammer.
A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
...pro-Brexit British prime minister, succeeding no-Brexit Theresa May. BoJo is noted as much for his sparkling personality and his hair as for his Conservative policies....
said that companies do not plan to pay for Russian gas in roubles, adding that the government was monitoring the implications for the European market of President Putin's demand.
Asked if there were any circumstances in which Britannia would pay in roubles for Russian gas, the front man said 'that is not something we will be looking to do,' adding that Putin's latest decrees show 'the impact that our sanctions are having on the Russian economy'.
'There are no gas pipes directly linking the UK with Russia, our imports from Russia made up less than four per cent of total UK gas supply in 2021 so we are obviously less reliant on it than many of our European partners,' the spokesperson added.
