The leading Danish energy company Ørsted has until May 31 to make a payment for gas supplies from Russia, but does not intend to do this in rubles, as required by the Russian side.
In this regard, according to TASS, the company admitted that Gazprom would turn off the valve for it.
The company’s statement notes that Gazprom Export continues to demand that the gas be paid in rubles. Meanwhile, Ørsted insists that it has no such legal obligations under the contract, so it will continue to pay for “blue fuel” in euros. In this regard, there is a risk that Gazprom Export will stop supplying gas to Ørsted, and this will be regarded as a violation of the agreement, the report says.
It is worth noting that Ørsted announced its refusal to pay for gas in rubles back in April.
Recall that on March 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree concerning gas trade with “unfriendly” countries for Russian rubles. As the head of state said at the time, the existing contracts for the supply of gas will be stopped if its European buyers do not fulfill the requirement in question.
According to the decree, in order to pay for gas, Western countries will be required to open ruble accounts with Gazprombank, which did not fall under the sanctions. The bank will sell the currency, which will be credited by buyers of Russian gas. Moscow will regard as a breach of contracts the refusal of gas buyers from “unfriendly” countries to pay for it in rubles.
