MINSK, April 2. /TASS/. Belarus will pay to Russia for oil and gas imports in Russian rubles in 2022, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said in a televised interview with Belarus-1 channel on Saturday.
"We have switched to settlements in rubles for energy. It is crucial. It is what we had been seeking for so long, that is not to make payments in dollars. Now we will be working with the Russian ruble. It is not because Russia is demanding from the West now, which is absolutely fair, to make settlements in its national currency," Golovchenko said.
"It is economically profitable for us, and we have always fought for it," he added. "This year we will be paying for oil and gas imports in Russian rubles."
Golovchenko believes that thanks to the sectoral programs, the two countries "have made noticeable progress towards a unified procedure of energy pricing for economic entities of Belarus and Russia.
"It is not even hundreds of millions of dollars, we are talking about billions of dollars. Half of the problem is solved this year, it will be fully resolved when we, according to the plan, will ink an agreement on forming a unified oil and gas market," Golovchenko said.
The Belarusian prime minister pointed out that the global financial order was being reshuffled globally.
"In my view, it can be branded as the period of suicide of the dollar. The reverberations of the US aggressive and unjustified actions are hard to foresee. It is a chance for the world to break away from hegemony of the dollar," Golovchenko said.