Slovakia to pay for gas in euro-to-rouble conversion scheme

Slovakia will pay for Russian gas in such a way that supplies won't be discontinued, Economy Minister Richard Sulik (SaS) declared at a press conference on Tuesday. According to Sulik, Slovakia will pay for its gas in euros to Gazprombank via its euro account, with the bank due to convert the payments to roubles and send them to Gazprom. He added that the Slovak SPP gas utility has already received instructions from him to embrace the new payment method. "We've got nothing to do with that following operation. What's crucial for us is that we're paying Gazprombank in euros," said Sulik. In announcing this, Sulik was following a new directive issued by the European Commission, which states that gas buyers “should make a clear statement that they intend to fulfil their obligations under existing contracts and consider their contractual obligations regarding the payment already fulfilled by paying in euros or dollars, in line with the existing contracts.” What the Commission’s new directive doesn’t address, however, is that in order to pay for Russian gas in euros, European buyers are obliged to open two accounts with Gazprombank – one in euros and the other in roubles – so as to facilitate the final conversion to roubles.