The decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin to sell gas in rubles contributed to the strengthening of the Russian currency. This was reported on May 28 by CBS News.
“Since the end of March, many foreign buyers have agreed with her demand to pay for energy resources in rubles, and this has strengthened the Russian currency,” the channel said.
It is noted that the sharp rise in the cost of energy products played an important role in the recovery of the ruble.
As a rule, in countries that are subject to sanctions, there is a flight of investors and a constant outflow of capital, which leads to the fall of its currency. At the same time, Russia’s measures “aimed at ensuring that money does not leave the country,” combined with restrictive measures from the West, create demand for the ruble and increase its value, the TV channel added.
The day before, the head of the Ministry of Economic Development, Maxim Reshetnikov, said that the decision to reduce the key rate by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to 11% is important and timely for the Russian economy. This “spurred the ruble – it grew a little,” he added.
On the same day, it became known that the G7 countries agreed to take measures to stop the increase in energy prices, which was caused by extraordinary market conditions.
Also on Friday, Stanislav Mitrakhovich, a leading expert at the National Energy Security Fund and the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, said that due to rising oil prices, Russia received a record amount of income from the export of black gold for 4 months of 2022 equal to 4.75 trillion rubles – half the amount 9.5 trillion rubles, which was going to receive in a year.
Analyst Robert Rapier, in an article for the American portal Oil Price two days earlier, also announced the benefits for Russia from Western sanctions regarding the export of black gold. According to him, Russia’s revenues from the sale of oil in April rose to 1.8 trillion rubles.
On May 26, the American edition of The Washington Post stated that the fear of the onset of an energy crisis forced the countries of the European Union (EU) to give in to Moscow’s demand to pay for gas supplies in rubles. Such a development of events, specified in the material, speaks of the victory of the Russian side.
On May 12, Bloomberg reported that 20 European companies have already opened accounts with Gazprombank to pay for Russian gas in accordance with Moscow’s terms.
On March 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the country would switch to paying for gas supplies to unfriendly states in rubles. On March 31, a corresponding decree was signed, after which the buyers had to open ruble accounts from which gas payments would be made. But some Western countries have said they are not going to follow this requirement.
Putin’s instruction to convert gas transactions into rubles came against the backdrop of anti-Russian sanctions imposed by a number of foreign countries in response to Russia’s ongoing special operation to protect Donbass since February 24.