Putin says Western banks block payments for Russian energy

MOSCOW, Apr 14 (PRIME) -- The banks of the so-called “unfriendly countries” block payments for Russian energy, President Vladimir Putin told a government meeting on Thursday.

“We register disruptions in payments for export of Russian energy. Banks from these unfriendly countries block payment transfers,” he said, reiterating that the goal of switching settlements into the ruble had already been set.

At the same time, the governments of the unfriendly countries acknowledge that they will be unable to make do without Russian energy, including natural gas.

“There is no reasonable replacement for (natural gas) for Europe now. It is possible, yes, but it does not exist now. Everyone understands that, the market has no free volumes, and supplies from other countries, from the U.S. in the first place, will cost consumers several times more. It will tell on the standard of living of people and on competiveness of the European economy,” he said.

The talk of European countries about rejection of Russian energy destabilizes the market and drives the prices upward. Attempts of the West to squeeze out the Russian energy suppliers from their markets will have a direct negative impact on the entire global economy, and the consequences will be painful for the initiators of these policies in the first place. The West is trying to use Russia to cover it mistakes and incompetence in the sphere of green energy, he said.

The most pressing issue of the Russian fuel and energy sector is disruption of export logistics. Given lower energy exports, Russia should raise internal supplies and reduce the national prices to stimulate internal demand. Russia also has to continue diversification of exports, he said.

“We will assume that energy supplies in the Western direction will contract in the foreseeable future. That is why it is important to fix the tendency of the recent years and reorient our exports to the developing markets of the South and East. We have to define the key infrastructure projects and start constructing them very soon,” Putin said.

The government has to define reference points for development of the Russian fuel and energy sector and adjust their previous decisions, he said.

He also said that the Russian currency market should be prepared for a significant increase of the share of settlements in the national currencies in Russia’s external trade. It should be possible to exchange any currency for the Russian ruble in any volume and at any time, this is a strategic task, he said.

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