The payment scheme for Russian gas in rubles proposed by Russia suits European commercial companies quite well.
Leading analyst of the National Energy Security Fund Igor Yushkov stated this in an interview with the Gorchakov Foundation, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“For European commercial companies, the changes are minimal. In this regard, it is significant how their reaction differs from the reaction of European politicians. While politicians immediately began to say that this was unacceptable, nothing could be changed, we don’t know what rubles look like, and we won’t pay, then commercial companies were much more restrained in their assessments. They took the published calculation formula especially calmly,” Yushkov said.
He noted that there is no and will not be an official ban on the purchase of gas for rubles by the European Commission, because bureaucrats are afraid that several European countries will refuse to vote for it.
“The point is that politicians closer to May, when it will be necessary to switch to payment under the new scheme, will say: we have expressed our position, we are against it and consider it wrong, but commercial contracts are signed by commercial companies, so decide for yourself. And on the sidelines, maybe they will whisper: of course, switch to ruble payments, because here and now we cannot refuse Russian gas.
They are, of course, adopting a strategy to reduce dependence on Russian hydrocarbons, but it will take years to implement it. I think that a number of countries will follow this path. Politicians will save face, and companies will be to blame,” concluded Yushkov.
He predicts that only Poland and Lithuania, which are ready to sacrifice their industrial sector, will refuse to buy Russian gas for rubles.