Before the Economic Affairs Committee, Barbara Pompili, the Minister for Ecological Transition does not fear a break in Russian gas deliveries while Moscow has asked to pay the bills in rubles. “The information we have received from Moscow in recent days and hours tends to lead us to believe that companies will be able to continue to pay in euros to banks which, themselves, will have to convert their euros into rubles, and in particular Gazprom Bank “, she explained.
According to her, “from the moment companies pay in euros, the contracts are respected and therefore it does not change much for our companies, she believes, adding:” So at this stage we do not have risk of breach of these contracts if this solution is the solution implemented. And therefore a priori no rupture that could be initiated from Russian gas imports. »
For the Minister of Ecological Transition, this payment in rubles means above all that it is “a measure of support for the ruble above all, but it is not really a retaliatory measure vis-à-vis European companies . In the meantime, Barbara Pompilli underlined that “this does not prevent us from working to be less and less dependent on Russian gas imports”.
The catastrophic stoppage of Russian gas supplies for Germany
Still, this showdown has only just begun between Moscow and the Europeans. Vladimir Putin has announced that he wants to immediately close the gas taps if the Europeans refuse any payment in Russian currency.
“From our point of view, imposing a payment in rubles would constitute a breach of most contracts: the contracts signed by French companies, in particular with Gazprom, are denominated in euros and therefore companies are legitimate to refuse a change of currency”, a said the minister. Except that in wartime, Vladimir Putin could be tempted to change the rules of the game. The Russian central bank could set the exchange rate it wanted, which would amount to unilaterally fixing the price of gas, even if Russia then exposed itself to sanctions. “It is not acceptable” repeated the Minister for the Ecological Transition.
Still, the threat of closing the Russian gas taps could cause a real shock for the European Union. Russia accounted for 40% of gas imports before the start of the war. According to the BASF group, this shutdown “could plunge Germany into the worst crisis since the end of the Second World War”.
“There may be a situation in which tomorrow there will be no more Russian gas” and “it is up to us to prepare these scenarios and we are preparing them”, admitted Thursday in Berlin the French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire with German Economy Minister Robert Habeck. In recent days, calls have been made to ask people to already save energy.