MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. Foreign buyers of Russian gas will receive a deferral on payments for gas through Gazprombank until April 1, 2025, Gazprom Deputy CEO, Famil Sadygov, told reporters.
"Following numerous requests from foreign gas buyers, the decree of the President of the Russian Federation has been approved today (dated 19.12.2024 No. 1080) which grants them a deferral on payments to accounts in the authorized bank (Gazprombank) until April 1, 2025, in order to take measures during this period to mitigate or cancel restrictive measures against Gazprombank," he said.
Since April 2022, under the presidential decree, buyers from unfriendly countries paid for supplies using special type K accounts in Gazprombank. The bank carried out conversion operations for buyers, providing the opportunity to pay for gas supplies in Russian rubles, the top manager of Gazprom explained.
By his new decree, Russian President Vladimir Putin allowed importers of Russian gas to pay for supplies in rubles not only through Gazprombank, authorized for these operations, but also in other Russian banks until April 1, 2025. Before this, foreigners could only convert currency in other Russian banks, but then still had to transfer the rubles they received to the Russian gas supplier's account at Gazprombank.
Two weeks earlier, the procedure for payments for Russian gas by foreign buyers had already been altered after the introduction of US sanctions against Gazprombank. In particular, foreign companies were given the right to pay for Russian gas not directly through an account at Gazprombank, but by crediting funds to the ruble account of the Russian supplier through third parties or by converting currency in other Russian banks. Payments for Russian gas using Gazprombank type K accounts are not made until the sanctions against this bank are lifted and can be resumed by decision of the Russian President.
About sanctions
In late November, the US imposed sanctions against Gazprombank, through which foreign payments for Russian gas and oil are made. After that, Turkey stated that the sanctions were having a negative impact on the republic, and Hungary asked the US to make an exception for Gazprombank when paying for gas. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stated that Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia and Turkey had held consultations and "had already developed an alternative way of payment that does not violate sanctions and makes it possible to pay for Russian energy resources.