Putin says Russia will switch gas sales to roubles for 'unfriendly' countries
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Governor of the Novgorod Region Andrei Nikitin during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 22, 2022. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS
March 23 (Reuters) - Russia plans to switch its gas sales to "unfriendly" countries to roubles, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday, responding to a freeze on Russia's assets by foreign nations over events in Ukraine that he said had destroyed Moscow's trust.
European countries' dependence on Russian gas and other exports has been thrown into the spotlight since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it called a special operation to degrade its southern neighbour's military capabilities and root out people it called dangerous nationalists.
"Russia will continue, of course, to supply natural gas in accordance with volumes and prices ... fixed in previously concluded contracts," Putin said at a televised meeting with top government ministers.
"The changes will only affect the currency of payment, which will be changed to Russian roubles," he said.
Putin said the government and central bank had one week to come up with a solution on how to move these operations to the Russian currency and that gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) would be ordered to make the corresponding changes to gas contracts.
According to Gazprom, 58% of its sales of natural gas to Europe and other countries as of Jan. 27 were settled in euros. U.S. dollars accounted for about 39% of gross sales and sterling around 3%.
Russian gas accounts for some 40% of Europe's total gas consumption.
"An understandable and transparent procedure of making payments should be created for (all foreign buyers), including acquiring Russian roubles on our domestic currency market," Putin said.
Ukrainian forces have mounted stiff resistance to Russia's actions and the West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in an effort to force it to withdraw its forces.
Russia has drawn up a list of "unfriendly" countries, which corresponds to those that imposed sanctions. Among other things, deals with companies and individuals from those countries have to be approved by a government commission.
The list of countries includes the United States, European Union member states, Britain, Japan, Canada, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and Ukraine.
Brilliant strike on economic front by Putin!
ReplyDeleteBy forcing unfriendly countries to pay their gas purchases in Roubles, the market supply for the Russian currency will be in drastic demand, especially amongst the EU!
This will cause the Euro to Rouble exchange rate to fall. Since EU is the biggest buyer of Russian LNG, & used to pay in Euro, this will arbitrary create a supply demand for Rouble - forcing the Rouble to appreciate vis-a-vis Euro!
The other side effect will be a forced reduction of local inflation within Russia due to higher exchange rate of Rouble in buying foreign imports.
Wakakakakaka…
What say u now, know-nothing Yankee asslicker about yr oft-chanted crumbling rubbles?
The rouble has already bounded from 137 to 1 USD at its lowest peak to 95.25 Rouble to 1 USD in a matter of days !
DeletePutin the Master chest player !!
What did Old Joe gleefully exclaimed just a few days back...." rouble will be worth less than 1 penny"...due time he goes back for stronger dementia dosage
A new world order in the making ?
ReplyDeleteRussia has that 1000 lbs gorilla hulking in the background - the world's largest cache of nuclear arsenal ! That sort of 'assurance',together with its other pluses of abundant gas and oil, its crucial metals and minerals, its wheat, corn and fertilizer, its top-notch warfare technology etc, when working in alliance with the world's largest or 2nd largest economy like China, right next door, all with its own unbeatable 'pluses' of being the world's most comprehensive supply chain manufacturing base, the soon-to-be AI champion of the world, and the largest affluent consumer base in one place...such a coming together in alliance can only happen once in this era, a rare opportunity not to be missed.
The manufactured crisis in Ukraine, and the evolving hysterical sanctions imposed on Russia, is only hastening the collapse of the US hegemony. Saudi Arabian oil selling in Yuan to China, selling to India in rupee...all avoiding the use of the USD...is petrodollar half dead ?
The following article, in excerpt, is a very plausible scenario to come
( see next post )
NEW WORLD ORDER 2.0 IS INEVITABLE
ReplyDeleteThe attack on Russia is the biggest geopolitical gamble in America’s history. If it succeeds, America will be the indisputable hegemon of the world, leading to a truly one-world government. On the other hand, if it fails, the American Century and the U.S. dollar’s status as the global currency will collapse unceremoniously. We are living through a momentous and dangerous arc of history.
Time is running out for America
Let’s start with the big picture. America’s preeminence is rapidly fading. The US’ share of global GDP is shrinking, and America’s debt is exploding. How long can the US dollar enjoy its “exorbitant privilege”? Max 10-15 years. America’s democracy is also faltering and the country is deeply divided.
Meanwhile, anti-American forces like China, Russia, and Iran are getting stronger. Russia has hypersonic missiles with multiple nuclear warheads that US missile defense systems cannot stop. China’s GDP is whopping $18 trillion now. And if Europe has peaceful relations with Russia (provider of cheap energy) and China (provider of cheap manufactured goods), the so-called Eurasia will have an economy twice as large as the US’. Even vassal states like Saudi Arabia are now starting to rebel, daring to sell oil for Yuan. Thus, something has to be done.
Plan A: Contain China
The US tried to contain and decouple from China during the Trump administration. However, that failed miserably: USA-China trade was whopping $650 billion in 2021. The next option could have been to isolate China by pulling Russia away from China’s orbit. Sort of like what President Eisenhower did when he invited the Soviet leader Khrushchev to the White House in 1959. (In 1972, Nixon did the divide-and-conquer in the other way by allying with China and isolating the USSR).
(continue next post...)
Plan B: Crush Russia, Strengthen Dollar
ReplyDeleteInstead, the U.S. went for the jugular, trying to “cancel” Russia and turn Putin into another Kim Kong Un, a global pariah. This astounding strategy must have been planned for a long time, since in a matter of days, almost every Western corporation ended its relations with Russia. The West cut off Russia from SWIFT – the global financial system – and stole more than half of Russia’s hard-earned foreign exchange reserves. It’s a bit surprising that Russia didn’t start bombing Europe and the U.S. (These are the kinds of provocations that led Japan to attack Pearl Harbor).
The chaos that ensues from this shock-and-awe economic warfare could help the U.S. by weakening Europe, crippling Russia, and strengthening the U.S. dollar, which will be seen as the safe-haven. Ironically, even though the U.S. just proved that it can seize assets any time it wants, the U.S. dollar will benefit in the short term. However, over the long term, this may backfire spectacularly (more on that later).
If you look at which countries are America’s enemies, they all have one thing in common: They don’t have U.S. military bases. And they have independent foreign policies, independent media etc. If you’re a country that is free from Facebook, Coca Cola, Goldman Sachs, and Lockheed Martin, you will be enemy #1.
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What happens next?
ReplyDeleteWell, Putin seems safe. There may not be a coup in Russia anytime soon. He will win the war in Ukraine and probably chop up Ukraine in half. The eastern half will become a new country or will get absorbed into Russia. Securing Crimea and Black Sea is a matter of survival for Russia. Then, he will start to negotiate with Europe.
Russia has a lot of leverage. It’s not North Korea. Russia — and more so, when combined with Ukraine —is the world’s leading exporter of not only oil and natural gas, but also wheat, fertilizer, corn, sunflower oil, titanium (used by Boeing), processed neon (used in semiconductors), palladium and many more crucial metals. Germany’s economic minister predicted “mass unemployment, poverty, people who can’t heat their homes, people who run out of petrol” if his country stopped using Russian oil and gas.
It’s possible that there will be riots in many developing nations due to shortages of food, fertilizer, and energy. Perhaps the CIA will use this as an excuse to do a whole bunch of regime changes?
China will protect Russia
As for China, it won’t let Russia collapse. If Putin gets replaced by an American puppet, the 6000+ Russian nukes will be pointed at China and not at the US. And there will be missile defense systems on Russia-China border, similar to those in South Korea. China’s energy security will also be severely threatened, as the new Russia can turn off the oil/gas pipelines at critical times. Moreover, half of China’s Belt and Road (BRI) trains to Europe go through Russia. Finally, if Russia falls, other Central Asian countries like Kazakhstan will become US puppets as well. Without Russia, the CCP’s future will be very shaky.
(continue from previous..)
ReplyDeleteUnipolar v. Multipolar
If Russia falls, the entire world has to accept America as the supreme leader of the world. It will be unipolar moment 2.0 on steroids. Europe will eventually benefit from this hegemony, although European leaders will be the junior dictators.
America is trying to choke the multipolar world at infancy. Honestly, I don’t know if the world leaders have the balls or integrity to stand up to this totalitarian future of a one-world government. I don’t see the leaders of the Global South openly condemning the West’s provocations or the unprecedented sanctions on Russia. Although, some countries like India are quietly resisting by buying Russian oil/gas. And the BRICS ministers met in Moscow yesterday. The timid ones who don’t speak out or act now will have their heads eventually on the chopping block if they are not completely subservient to the US.
American Imperialism
America started out as an anti-imperialist and idealist country with 13 states and 3 million people. But it forgot its roots and kept expanding in North America for the next century. After 1900, it joined the race for colonialism — subjugating Latin America and even colonizing the Philippines. Thanks to WW1 and WW2, the U.S. took over all the European colonies and created a more sophisticated empire built around finance and behind-the-scene military bases.
America is now the world’s most powerful empire with 800 military bases in 140 countries, enormous stranglehold on information due to conventional and social media, and an overwhelming hegemony over the global financial system. And Europe is a quiet but vital player in this scheme. But nothing lasts forever and everything is replaceable. If America and Europe are determined to hold on to the imperialist and colonialist powers rather than share powers, the world will have a terrifying future.
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NWO and an Uncertain Future
ReplyDeleteIf the West wins, we will have a totalitarian nightmare of one world government, one world currency, and one world technocracy (like the World Economic Forum and their Great Reset plans). And America’s absurd and dysfunctional social engineering will be shoved down the throats of people worldwide as well. (“Who is a woman? Well, I don’t know, I am not a biologist”).
How can the West lose? One short-term possibility is by getting nuked by Russian missiles. The other long-term possibility: Russia survives and works with China and other developing countries to create an alternative system that circumvents Western finance, media, technology, and military. Already, the American delusion of quick collapse of the Ruble has been thwarted by Putin’s calm and strategic moves (for example, Putin is now demanding Rubles for natural gas. Europe depends on Russia for 40% of natural gas and about 30% of oil and coal. Theoretically, Russia can introduce PetroRuble to challenge the almighty petrodollar!).
Russia is a proud country with 1000+ years of remarkable history. Putin is not going to let Russia disintegrate and vanish from history. If Russia is on the verge of oblivion, it will nuke America for sure, and perhaps Germany. If pushed to a corner, Russia can and will use its hypersonic missiles to obliterate all the major American cities.
America is an Empire of Lies that peddles fake news, toxic food, harmful medicines from Big Pharma, oligarchy dressed up as democracy, imperialism pretending to spread freedom, and illusion of wealth that is founded upon the dollar’s global status, exploding debt and money-printing.
There is no going back now. The globalists have started WW3, which has been so far limited to economic and financial warfare. There will be a New World Order 2.0. There will be vicious struggles to determine the future of all nations.
The future of humanity is at stake…