Prague [Czech Republic], May 3 (ANI/Sputnik): The Czech Republic does not plan to pay for Russian gas in rubles, Industry and Trade Minister Jozef Sikela told reporters after a Brussels meeting of EU ministers in charge of energy issues.
“The Czech Republic intends to continue paying for gas in euros, especially since we buy most of it on Western European exchanges. The only Czech company that buys gas directly in the Russian Federation is the energy company CEZ, which pays and will continue to pay in euros,” Sikela said.
He said the country is also ready, under certain conditions, to stop buying oil from Russia by the end of 2022.
On March 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the transfer of natural gas payments for EU countries and other states that introduced restrictive measures against Russia into rubles in order to stop using dollars, euros and a number of other currencies in settlements. Then the president signed a relevant decree and said Russia would consider unfriendly countries’ failure to pay in rubles from April 1 as non-fulfilment of obligations under gas contracts. (ANI/Sputnik)