MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/. Ten more European gas buyers have opened accounts in Gazprombank, doubling the total number of clients preparing to pay in rubles for Russian gas, Bloomberg reported on Thursday citing a source.
"A total of twenty European companies have opened accounts, with another 14 clients asking for the paperwork needed to set them up, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential matters. He declined to identify the companies," the agency said.
On April 27, Bloomberg announced that at least ten European companies buying Russian natural gas had already opened accounts to pay for it in rubles.
On March 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that lays out a new procedure for paying for gas supplies by buyers from unfriendly countries. Now such states must transfer funds in foreign currencies to Gazprombank, which will buy rubles on exchanges and transfer them to special ruble accounts of importers. At the same time, Russia will continue to supply gas in volumes and at prices fixed in earlier contracts. The European Commission announced that payment for gas supplies in rubles is a violation of existing agreements, most countries officially announced that they would not pay in Russian currency.