ABU DHABI, October 2. /TASS/. India and Russia do not yet use rupees for oil transactions, as negotiations in this direction are ongoing, Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India Pankaj Jain told reporters on the sidelines of the ADIPEC oil and gas exhibition.

"This is a conversation we are still having. It’s not yet completed," he said.

Responding to a clarification question from TASS as to whether the Indian currency is used when buying oil from Russia he said: "Not Indian [currency] so far."

Jain also added that India and Russia use different currencies when paying for oil supplies.

The official did not comment on what volumes of oil India plans to purchase from Russia in 2023. "We can’t predict that. I don’t buy oil, my companies do," he said.

In September, Indian Ambassador to Russia Pawan Kapoor denied reports that large amounts of rupees are being hoarded in Russia due to the fact that the Indian side pays for Russian oil purchases in rupees. He noted that this was due to an imbalance in bilateral trade.

Earlier, Russia’s Energy Ministry denied the words of economist Mikhail Zadornov that rupees stuck in accounts could be one of the reasons for the weakening of the ruble. The ministry told TASS that this opinion does not reflect the real situation, since oil companies return most of the foreign currency earnings, and the delays are not systemic.