Latvia allowed payment for Russian gas in rubles

MOSCOW, April 4 – RIA Novosti. The Latvian company Latvijas Gāze is considering the possibility of paying for Russian gas in rubles, the organization said in a statement.

The organization added that they are now analyzing a new method of payment from a legal and business point of view.

Earlier, the chairman of the board of Latvijas gāze, Aigars Kalvitis, said that he did not see the possibility of paying in rubles for natural gas supplies from Russia, since the contract provides for payments in euros.

On March 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the transfer of natural gas payments to the EU countries and other countries that have introduced restrictive measures into rubles in order to stop using dollars, euros and a number of other currencies in calculations. On Thursday, the president signed a corresponding decree. He announced that Moscow would consider non-fulfillment of obligations under gas contracts by unfriendly countries if they did not pay in rubles from April 1.

On February 24, Russia launched a military operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. In response, Western countries announced large-scale sanctions against Moscow.