Italian energy company to start paying for Russian gas in rubles
Italian energy company Eni confirmed it is opening accounts in rubles with Gazprombank to pay for gas supplies, complying with Moscow's demands.
Eni said in a statement on Tuesday it was opening accounts in rubles and euros with Gazprom Bank "on a precautionary basis" as "deadlines for the payment of gas supplies are scheduled for the next few days".
It was not immediately clear whether the move would fall foul of European Union sanctions, although Eni said it was "not incompatible".
The company said its decision to open the accounts was "taken in compliance with the current international sanctions framework" and that Italian authorities had been informed.
READ ALSO: Italy will ‘soon’ stop buying gas from Russia, says minister
Vladimir Putin demanded at the end of March that payment be made in rubles or the gas supply to European countries would be cut off, as he hit back at sanctions placed on Russia by EU countries following its invasion of Ukraine.
Eni's CEO Claudio Descalzi said at the time that his company would not comply with the demands, saying “Eni doesn’t have rubles" and “the contracts say fuel payments should be made in euros”.
But many European companies and their lawyers have since been looking at ways to meet the demand without breaching sanctions aimed at punishing Russia for the war in Ukraine, reports Bloomberg.
EU officials had said opening a ruble account would breach sanctions. But its latest guidelines, to be published this week, are expected to stop short of banning bank accounts in rubles and therefore allow companies to keep buying Russian gas, Bloomberg reports.
Like other European countries, Italy says it is working to reduce its heavy reliance on Russian energy imports in the wake of the Ukraine war.
But the Italian government has so far resisted calls to boycott Russian oil and gas.
Italy is highly dependent on Russian gas, importing 95 percent of the gas it consumes, of which around 40 percent comes from Russia.
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Eni said in a statement on Tuesday it was opening accounts in rubles and euros with Gazprom Bank "on a precautionary basis" as "deadlines for the payment of gas supplies are scheduled for the next few days".
It was not immediately clear whether the move would fall foul of European Union sanctions, although Eni said it was "not incompatible".
The company said its decision to open the accounts was "taken in compliance with the current international sanctions framework" and that Italian authorities had been informed.
READ ALSO: Italy will ‘soon’ stop buying gas from Russia, says minister
EU officials had said opening a ruble account would breach sanctions. But its latest guidelines, to be published this week, are expected to stop short of banning bank accounts in rubles and therefore allow companies to keep buying Russian gas, Bloomberg reports.
But the Italian government has so far resisted calls to boycott Russian oil and gas.
Italy is highly dependent on Russian gas, importing 95 percent of the gas it consumes, of which around 40 percent comes from Russia.
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