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Putin has threatened so called unfriendly states to pay in rubles or have its gas supply shut off. It has said it doesn't buy things for free and so isn't going to charitable with its energy.
Europe has kicked against this with Germany saying its being blackmailed by this move. What other choice does Europe has with Russia alone selling about 40% of energy to the world.

Russia walked this backed: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-will-not-demand-immediate-switch-gas-payments-roubles-kremlin-2022-03-30/

Their messaging is confusing and their economy is too fragile to further restrict themselves from global commerce, so you can expect something like this to not go through. It sounded like an empty threat from the start and a mere desperate attempt to avoid sanctions. Appears Russia still has India and China open to them for unrestricted trading, but they cannot reasonable expect to cut off trading from the rest of Europe and keep their economy afloat.

I think for the time being they might have stayed away from this decision but eventually as their global commerce becomes normal I think you can expect they will easily implement this rule of paying only in rubles, one reason for that is also because they want to strengthen their currency's value as well which has actually taken a great toll after the recent war scenario, but for now they want to trade despite sanctions so atleast inflow of money isn't stopped altogether.

To be honest, if European countries don't want to freeze to death then they inevitably have to obey the rules set by Putin. This step actually looks cruel but I see this is the last step from Putin to escape the sanctions imposed on Russia.

It will only take time, Putin is not doing his country good, he can look like he is winning now but the future would tell. I wish Russians to see what Putin is getting them into.

It is totally mandatory but let us see what will happen. The EU and other European countries would have been strategizing what they will do, but I lack any comment about this for now and you may be wrong.

Iike our people will always say: you can't easily beat to a pub the man that weild the handle of the sword. EU and other countries that are major dependants  of Russia's energy wouldn't say they never envinced this coming even as they were throwing sanctions upon sanctions on Russia.

As far as China and India is concerned, i think Russia is still in good business with their energy sells.

This is war, and everyone will definitely try to make use of every strategy possibly with their reach to winning it, and that's what I see Russia doing.

Yeah right, the same bullsihit about freezing to death without Russian gas.
I wonder how did we manage before when the USSR was not selling one cubic meter of gas to the western world, oh wait, what happened afterward? One crumbled and the other was perfectly fine!


So split that by 40% as that's how much gas we import from Russia and we have something like 32% of 40%.
How please do tell us how we're all going to freeze to death from a 12% cut in gas used in households. Besides, with heating you can always use something else, good luck eating tree bark once you don't have anything else to sell other than mail order brides.


And how are they going to do so? By fueling balloons and sending them over the border? Carrying oil in their pockets?
Suddenly Russia will be able to export 75% of the gas over inexistent pipelines but Europe can't replace 40% of theirs.

And what do you think about now that there are news that Russian Army are likely not taking orders and command and likely not going forward in the fight. I think this could be a wrong signal for Russia and may likely work against them. The gas supply to China isn't really an easy business that seems easily spoken, no matter how you look at it, Russia need EU for supply and they also need Russia for the gas.

Europe still have other source of gas, they wont Freeze to death as you think though they should reconcile so people in Europe can still have a cheaper cost of petroleum. With Russia, they are on the edge of sinking because of the sanctions and if they keep pushing on this one, they’ll still suffer later on. EU and Russia needs each other, most of the imports in Russia came from western countries and with EU, they rely on the gas of Russia for over a decade now so this conflict should not last or else EU and the rest of the world will experience shortages on the supply which can affect many economies.

If this will lead to halting they supply Russian gas, Europe will take a huge short-term economic hit from a sudden stop of many of their industries, but it will stimulate them to immediately solve their dependency. They will quickly build renewables and other sources of energy, as well as increase their alternative sources of gas. EU will withstand this crisis, it will not be pretty, but they are very rich so they can afford setbacks. Meanwhile Russian economy will just accelerate its freefall.

That's most likely going to happen in the future if inflow of cash is limited due to their conflicts but I'm also thinking that they want people to think that they aren't that desperate or as bad as people think but what happens happened already. But for now, Europe needed that gas energy or else they are the ones that's going to suffer too. Russia still has India and China to continue their business but paying in rubles is different.

Populations in the united and states and india have roughly doubled from the 1950s to the present.

I would guess a high percentage of europe was heated by firewood, with renewable forests being grown to satisfy demand prior to 1950. Over time population growth and a decline of renewable tree markets, led to europe becoming more dependent on natural gas. It is more convenient to use natural gas for heating purposes, than it is to chop and haul firewood or grow renewable forests for fuel. Its normal for natural market forces to select the more convenient option as the norm.

One option for europe could be to implement fast growing bamboo as a fuel source for heating purposes. Bamboo has a high growth rate, can be grown affordably and grows well in a variety of climates. Over time a stock of bamboo could be grown and harvested to provide fuel to replace natural gas. Excess bamboo could also be used for a variety of purposes.

The original "pay in rubles" headline may have been a calculated move. Russia undoubtedly wants the ruble to trend higher, which is correlated with higher buying of the ruble. And so if they announce they will only deal in rubles, there are many who will only see the 1st headline, and not the 2nd headline that corrects the 1st. Who will buy rubles for oil exchange. Which will push the ruble higher. its a common tactic in news cycles, where the original headline may deliberately be false and misleading in the hope that not many see the 2nd headline, which corrects it.

I believe that's one way to act on this impending event. Renewable or other energy options will be explored faster than usual. It is not dead end for them. Russian gas is not the only source of energy. They will find a way how to overcome this bottleneck if in case Russia is serious about this implementation. They may even find out that there are better alternatives to the Russian supply.

I don't know the details, but honestly I don't think it is an unreasonable position. Is it any different than American exports having to be paid for with dollars?

Actually this was the expected move done by the Putin.When the rubles  price was further reduced ,the Russia government should react for this.Because when the price was further crashed,they can’t do anything good for them.The government economy will be collapsed with huge fall.The government will struggle to get any offer from government exchanges also.

I have a feeling some, or perhaps many, gas companies might accede to the Russian demand, albeit secretly. And this is probably temporary, too. Things are happening abruptly and while there must be alternative sources and ways to do away with Russian gas, for the time being, it might do more good than harm if they acquiesce. But, overall, dependence on Russian gas will definitely start to wane down because of this invasion.

And this leverage by the Russians, while strong, is also a double-edged sword. It has its return damage.

The USSR actually did sell oil and natural gas to western Europe.The decreasing oil prices during the 80s had a major negative impact on the soviet economy.
Anyway,the problem is where to buy rubles,in order to pay for the natural gas.The Russian central bank is under heavy sanctions,so the western banks cannot buy rubles from there.
I'm 99% sure that the EU will refuse to pay with rubles,but will the Russians stop the gas and get rid of their number one income source?It has been said,that Asian countries cannot fully replace European countries as natural gas buyers.

Gas is very important and makes life much more confortable during winter season, but isn't it too drastic to say "freeze to death"?

Sorry, I live in a warm country, so I might be saying something wrong on this matter, but since people were able to live in Europe during middle ages without gas, but only wood and coal to keep the fire burning, wouldn't it be possible to do a temporary sacrifice for now until an alternative to Russia appears or is built by the occident?

Any weakness demonstration towards Russia is too dangerous now. The world should be concerned in showing Putin his influence over another nations isn't unlimited and decisive as he might imagine.

Well, I wouldn't be surprised if some companies were to actually do so, but I reckon they'd have to do something about it in the short term, so even if they did accede to the demands of Russia, it'd only be for a short time. Who knows, Europe might just develop alternate methods for energy/fuel due to the issue, though as I said in the short term, they have no choice but to rely on Russia. Well with said action Putin is just putting Russia in a much worse place from it's originally bad position.

I was thinking how stupid the Russian government must be to anger their markets for Oil and Gas in the EU, because after this conflict ....they will have lost market share in Europe and this decision will hurt them in the long run.  ::)

In any way, I do not think there are enough liquidity on Russian exchanges to convert the bitcoins back to Ruble .... they will have to transfer those coins to other "Russian friendly" exchanges to off ramp it into Fiat currencies.  ::)

It's like going back and forth in my opinion, Europe doesn't want to be cold and of course it needs gas there on the other hand they also definitely want to have an effect on Russia but indeed Putin is not that shallow and he has thought about this carefully.
Well this is quite a difficult thing because indeed Putin and Russia have the resources needed and it is very difficult to criticize if they still need it

Gas is a major need because of the weather condition , the weather in winter is very cold and heater is a big necessity as the terrain get frezen. Sourcing for alternative is the solution although maybe at a higher price because Putin is definitely using this as an advantage.

Personally, I think it's a smart move. If I've got a product that others are willing to purchase, they should give me what I want in exchange for my product. Why must I accept dollars for sales of my goods and/or services?

This is quite interesting when everything has been estimated in advance. In my opinion, Putin had anticipated the risk of sanctions from the start, he would launch his actions on Ukrainian soil. Involving parties to show real alignments. Isn't this as if trying to filter which countries are pro and not. Then after that he imposed the payment of Rubles for the purchase of Gas and Oil. A few days ago, the gasoline shop where I live experienced a 10% increase and it was so bloated that I had to walk. Well, unfortunately, the oil and gas collectors piled it behind the house and then played the hoarding business of gas and oil.

A lot of money is being sanctioned for Russia, so which one is actually the country that is dubbed the Super Power? Russia or US? When hit with oil, then gas, then pulled companies, the departing Starbucks economy also lost 10%. If I'm not mistaken KFC was also pulled from Russia. Which is where the superpower economy is held by Russia. Hi Chips Industry and also Titanium Industry mostly from Russia. Now Europe is starting to give in and open the way for negotiations.

Because of the Sanctions the only thing that the Russians have is this Gas deal therefore if they increase their prices they would be able to gain some money off the sanctions and that is what they are trying to do at the moment as well. When Putin is threatening this he needs to understand that he cannot sit and eat gas or convert it into money therefore he is playing hard ball.

Europe needs Russian gas definately they cannot survive off any energy being deviated from other countries since that would take a while and it would be able to meet all the energy needs of Europe as well. Therefore they have to set prices with him since there are still countries like India who are willing to buy their gas ⛽ which he is providing them with at a much reasonable price even after the increase.

So :
1. Europe needs to set a price up which would not interfere with the sanctions
2. Russia need to stop playing hardball because they are not going to reach anywhere else with this

That's not true, the risks are not nearly as high as you present them, which is why the EU must impose a gas embargo on Russia. There's the statement (https://www.reuters.com/article/ukraine-crisis-eu-gas-idINS8N2UY09K) that EU already has enough gas till the end of winter. Now it's getting warmer, so the matter of gas will become relevant from the next heating season, starting in October. It's half a year away from now, and Germany buys around 40% of gas from Russia (so more than half is already covered by other sources). Also, the US said it'll help EU (and US has quite a lot of gas). Not to mention that if the Western world acted more swiftly right now, they could make the war end sooner, and then they could work out new deals with the new Russian government, including gas deals.

If you have something that others want then you are in a position to manipulate, that is what Russia is doing, but they are not the only ones using that strategy! In my village, it is said: "everyone pours water on their mill"!
Anyway, we who are crypto enthusiasts should be a little more aware of decentralized markets, in a way everyone has the right to sell what they own for a coin of their choice, so what is different here?! Russia wants to sell gas in rubles? They are free to do that, the gas is theirs, let them sell it for what they want! Whoever wants to buy will find a way, whoever doesn't want to is free to find another seller!

When it comes to business I think people shouldn't get upset too much, after all, it's all business, and in business, there shouldn't be anger! All participants are just trying to get the most from what they have, and we can't blame anyone for trying to do that!

Putin and his Russian government start to threaten many other countries mostly because they help Ukraine indirectly also they try to blame Russia and support Ukraine in this war in the other hand just because of the war between these two countries Russia is facing many economic sanctions and these sanctions are damaging their economic but after asking this to force them. In my own idea these countries should start finding new gas suppliers so Russia will have less effect on them.

After reading a little bit more it seems that Putin is somehow softening his position and it seems this is going to be a gradual change and not something as abrupt as it seemed at first, however it seems that at some point this is going to become the new reality for European countries that are against Russia and their designs on the continent, and to be honest this was to be expected, Russia has very few economic weapons but the ones they have are strong, so it was just a matter of time until they used their leverage against Europe.

Russia offer its flagship Urals grade to India at discounts of as much as $35 a barrel. Russia has given access for rupee-ruble-denominated payments using Russia’s messaging system SPFS. The direct purchase is expected to involve Russia’s Rosneft PJSC and the Asian nation’s biggest processor Indian Oil Corporation.

India's decision to bypass the SWIFT system for buying Russian oil have been criticised by the U.S. Australia, Japan and U.K. It looks like India never think of the pressure from these countries. This way India and Russia seems to be highly beneficial out of the sanctions.

China got them on their back and that's why they want to make their own rule and avoid and dismantle the traditional dollar pairs for their oil. The countries that are customers to them don't have a choice but just to do whatever they want and they'll keep with the trades.

They won't mind it and as usual, a big country that just got the deal with, it's a big lost for Uncle Sam.

The European countries should of had some plan in place years ago. The way things are going if the war drags on to end of 2022, with winter coming. They will have no choice but to comply and pay in Rubles or whatever currency they want.

This is probably why Putin knew they would throw these types of sanctions at him and he knew that people are too dependent on his resources that they will have to make the trades anyways to survive.

The Americans should mind their own business. First and foremost, the EU countries should do what they preach. On one hand they are asking India to refrain from purchasing the discounted crude and gas from Russia and on the other hand they are continuing to accumulate these commodities from the same source. As of now, the most Russophobic nations in the EU such as Poland and Lithuania receive more than 50% of their gas and oil from Russia. Who are they to give advise to India? We know how to take care of the internal matters in our country and help from EU/US is not needed.

the russian way is pretty good and there is nothing wrong with this. they are trying to make the ruble valuable even though it is being sanctioned. and European countries can't protest this, let alone those who need energy supplies from Russia. so they have to follow what the russians want or there is no energy for them.

They need to determine the price now regardless of the sanctions they impose because still Russia is in control now and when they don't want to follow Russia then indeed the Gas deal may not happen and indirectly this could slowly kill them because of the weather .
They can't do much because Russia is still in control because maybe now it will be like this, Russia can distribute gas but with the rules and powers they make.

Putin and his entourage are accustomed to bluffing and denying the obvious. Sometimes they can't let go of their previous foolish words and deeds and have to endure the unwanted consequences while reassuring that everything is going well and according to plan. Let's see what happens.
Europe has finally realized that it needs to end this constant blackmailing of Russia over energy. Now they are very actively beginning to reorient themselves to other alternative markets, some European countries will be able to do this in the next two years. In the future, Russia will definitely lose because of this blackmail. The reservoirs in Russia are filling up and further it is necessary either to stop the production of oil and gas, or to significantly reduce the price. Therefore, Russia has already started selling oil to India at half price. Further it will be even more interesting. Given that roughly 30 to 50 percent of Russia's budget comes from energy exports, Putin is driving his country into a dead end.

The only thing that is getting killed is English in your post, plus logic is also near the deathbed.
I often wondered how negative your IQ has to be to think that without gas the whole of Europe will freeze to death when Europe still gets 60% of the gas from outside Russia and it can of course import a lot more LNG during spring when demand is lower in Asia?

In other news:


I have a feeling the best conditions to have that changed is for Ukraine's army to each Moscow by end of April, not that it would be impossible.


Maybe we Europeans should do the same to India as Russia does to Ukraine?
Of course with far better success chances, how many it took last time, 2 ships and 5 donkeys?


He finally realized how empty his threats are, nobody is scared anymore about the Russian army, and his allies are quitting him one after other, even Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, he finally start to understand that the emperor is naked. And weak. And poor! And stupid!

The result was predictable :) Russia with its demands and ultimatums was sent on a "walking erotic journey" :)
Under-Fuhrer, having decided that he is God and all his ultimatums will be fulfilled, did not take into account that he communicates not with his slaves, but with people from the free world, where laws, contracts, and obligations work. As a result, like any "initiative" of Russia, it all turned into a comedy. Do you know what they did? They created a CURRENCY account at Gazprombank. Where do buyers transfer.. What? Yes - CURRENCY! And then they themselves buy rubles on the interbank exchange! :) "The West has been brought to its knees, another victory for Russia!" :)))

I guess if the EU refuses to pay in rubles then the Russians will also stop supplying gas. The EU has already imposed almost all sanctions on the Russian economy and there is no reason for Russia to continue to make concessions. Pay in rubles, this could have been too sudden a Russian counterattack against the US and EU that they didn't think of and they were slow to react.

That's exactly what Russia is trying to show, hitting their finances for taking such blind sanctions. Russia position is ideal in terms of controlling Gas, while the EU need for Gas is undeniable, the use of other alternatives has not fully covered what Gas has done. So, like it or not, Russia is opening itself up to European Union countries to buy gas under one of these conditions. Russia didn't care about sanctions from the start, because they knew western and European countries would definitely make those policies.

Are you proposing another war? What has India now done against you? You have many enemies. I don’t understand why people have so much bile and anger towards the people who have always fought the Nazis, what is wrong with them?


Who told you that these two countries are against Russia? Where is that written? All the economic transactions that were with these countries did not stop for a second. The news that you are presented with is full of fakes and garbage.

“I know hundreds of ways to get a bear out of its den, but none to get it back in. Don't tease the Russian bear."
Great politician Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck

Why did no one learn to listen to smart people?

Why not reread my post, it would be so nice to actually reply about what I post, not what you think I'm thinking.
Did I say those countries are against Russia anywhere other than in your imagination? I said allies are quitting, not that they have decided to go against him.

As for your advice, indeed, why don't you do it first?
https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakhstan-evade-sanctions-russia/31781750.html

.

https://www.rferl.org/a/uzbekistan-ukraine-separatists-not-recognized/31757881.html


Yeah, bring in the nazi argument, of course then the nazist Ukraine led by a nazi jew, let's not even count the fact that all the people that are arming Ukraine now are the same that helped you not get your ass trashed by them in ww2. Throw in a  bit of fascism, world order, crony capitalism, and decadent west to make the perfect borscht. Don't forget something about gays and Christianity.


What other war? There is no war, there is a special operation, one that might include picking up people from their homes after they mention the word war on foreign forums, especially ones banned in some undisclosed country we're not going to mention!  ;)

Russia is looking for a way to strengthen their currency (Rubble) and it's economy as a result of the sanctions imposed on them and they're also taking the advantage of being the major supplier of gas to the European countries which is about ( 40%) to issue these ultimatum , I see it as strategy to escape the impact of the sanctions . Just looking at what the response from EU countries would be.

The trouble they are causing themselves in the long run is that these nations will not forget about this war. Sure they put sanctions and that is why Russia is also hitting back, what did the west expected? Russia to rollover and say "yes my lord" and accept the deal? Of course they would hit back and this was known.

However, the regular companies didn't know what governments would do, politicians reacted, but companies and the citizens weren't ready for what the governments did. In return, since Russia is pulling a big request here, everyone in the west will try to look for alternative sources. It may not happen now, but it may happen in the end, and that is the most important part. Maybe it won't impact today, but it will in 5-10 years.

Its already clear what Putin is up to. Regarding to allies or foe, Putin clearly out spoke that those who are opposing his action will also face consequences so threatening them with energy sources supplies like coal, gas and petroleum cancellation will be inevitable.
The whole situation of war is creating a panic situation and world is dividing into 2 groups. Lets see how things move towards and I genuinely wish for end of this war.

LOL.. I think you are still living in the 19th century. Dude, that era is long gone, when Europeans could do whatever they wanted. Most of the European countries don't even have a proper army nowadays and are entirely dependent on the United States for their defense deals. Within a few weeks, all these media hype about heroic Ukrainian defense will fall apart and Putin will walk away with half of Ukraine. Europeans will be left with another 10 million economic migrants from Ukraine, which will add further strain to the budget (that is already under pressure from the raising gas and oil prices).

Let's make it more interesting since you're such a know-it-all?
If by Victory day which is one month and a few days from now on Russia won't conquer half of Ukraine, are you willing to put your account here at stake?  ;)
We can try a bet in BTC, how does half or one quarter sound?


Europe imports ~ 200 billion worth of oil and gas, EU GDP is 21.5 trillion, that's 1%, indeed a strain, just as a head-up, we have a noncommunity export of 1.9 trillion, just our exports to other countries are bigger than entire Russia plus EAEU groups GDP.
We have 4 million jobs opening in Europe, we could easily absorb half of that in months, plus a lot of the refugees are children, and that makes a huge differnece.

There isn't really anything Europe can do short term. We are dependent on Russia for gas, there is no real alternative we can find in a few weeks. Also these are long term contracts with Russia, we can't just cancel them overnight. Same goes for Russia, they need the western money and will not stop the gas flow. Both parties in the contract want the gas to keep flowing. Putins rational behind this move is strengthen the currency, via increasing demand for Ruble. The German chancellor Olaf Scholz already said they will only pay in Euro or Dollars, but this doesn't matter. Gazprom is creating new bank accounts that will directly change the euros or dollars into Ruble.

Its almost going towards end because Russia is taking their military out of Ukraine to their borders but now Ukraine wants to continue their fight by bombarding the oil Bunkers in Russian borderline.

Probably this is going to be the beginning of new economic era, because three big countries of Asia is joining together and actually no country can't impose complete ban like US did to North Korea like countries because they generate money from those countries. Means US is losing their domination and China is marching towards the next big influencial country of this world.

Europe has been seen as an energy crisis area in recent years and Russia is their largest supplier. All see that energy dependence on Russia is not good in the long run. But it seems that the measures and policies put forward to discuss reducing dependence on Russia do not seem to be effective and now when the fighting breaks out, they are even ready to replace energy supplies from Russia. But what they have achieved is no progress, they will still have to use Russian gas for at least the next 5 years to find new supplies.

More discussion on India's trade with Russia following Rupee-Ruble Trade mechanism. Europe and America stands against the decision. Here none is to be blamed, everyone wants an opportunity to make use. Now it is the time for India and it is using the chance. America and European countries tie hands to fight Russia, just on the fact of holding power

Germany, Europe's biggest consumer of Russian gas which has halted certification of the new Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia because of the Ukraine crisis, could import gas from Britain, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands via pipelines.

Germany's utility association BDEW has called on the government to come up with an emergency plan to prepare the country for disruptions to Russian gas supplies.

Norway's Equinor (EQNR.OL) said it is considering ways to produce more gas from its Norwegian fields during the upcoming summer in Europe, a season in which output is normally affected by maintenance.

Southern Europe can receive Azeri gas via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline to Italy and the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) through Turkey.

The United States will work to supply 15 billion cubic metres of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the European Union this year, the transatlantic partners said last week.

Europe's options on Gas (https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/what-are-europes-options-case-russian-gas-disruption-2022-03-29)
European countries have got more other alternative, why don't they find a solution out of it. There is nothing to blame the countries benefiting out of Russia's trade plans to overcome sanctions.

Turkey's president says that "he doesn't want to see his citizens freeze to death".  European countries certainly can't refuse it even though they insist, do they already have other alternatives to meet their domestic oil supply?  this is very smart politics from putin to fight sanctions from the west and oil is the most exclusive basic need right now.

Putin is now using dictatorship and not counting others because he is in superpower. Don't even think about the advantages and disadvantages. Russia has no idea how many people will suffer if the gas supply is cut off, he is just looking after his own interests.

Now, Russia wants to build a new world order with China. As a result, powerful Russia will become infinitely powerful and will do whatever it wants while keeping the whole world in its hands.

The western media went full Goebbels during the Russian/Ukraine conflict. I mean they haven't been telling the truth for years but they literally doubled their filth. There are hundreds of reports ( they are there if you know where to look) showing how they are manipulating the masses.

Right before Russia destroyed the remaining Nazi forces during WWII, the German people were still believing that they were about to invade Moscow. :D

Any time now!

You're right. Russia envisioned these sanctions. They knew they would come and were somewhat ready for it

Yeah, I don't expect them to just shut it off. This is more posturing but they might eventually go on with it in the future. After all this means they'd be getting Euros in exchange.

In some countries, the weather is such that it is covered with snow all year round. If the gas supply in these countries is cut off, an unimaginable bad situation will arise. Countless people will die because of the weather in these countries. And Putin is using this opportunity and threatening to cut off gas supplies.

In this situation, there are two roads open for these countries. One, is the discovery of an alternative fuel other than gas though it is a matter of time. Two, agree to a deal with Putin.

You are wrong. Russia is not a superpower. And she never was. This is a backward, wild, totalitarian country, headed by a madman who imagines himself to be the messiah. Oh yeah, and they still have nuclear weapons. It is this /, nuclear weapons, that has become an argument for intimidating the West. Remove nuclear weapons from Russia now, and Ukraine will capture Russia in a couple of months :) Russia does not "crush" the West with its economy, or with its technologies that it will stop supplying to the West, there is no greatness. There is only the fear of nuclear war, and this crazy dwarf uses it very well.
Regarding China, I agree that China has contradictions with the West, but I do not agree that China will create an alliance with Russia. Russia for him, China - just a raw material appendage.

Russia's military aggression against Ukraine has not yet subsided. In Russia, they realized that they could not effectively attack Ukraine from three sides, as they had previously counted on the minimum resistance of the Ukrainian armed forces. The Armed Forces of Ukraine, having already 8 years of experience in military operations, very competently took advantage of the situation and do not arrange frontal battles, but operate in small groups with the support of artillery and aviation, inflicting pinpoint and tangible losses on the enemy. Therefore, in the first month of the war, Russia lost more than 40,000 people killed, wounded and captured. Military equipment "the second army of the world" has already lost about 40 percent, eight of the ten invading armies of Russia.

Now Russia is withdrawing its heavily battered troops from Kyiv and the northern directions and will attack from the east, as well as try to seize the land corridor in southern Ukraine in order to have a passage into the previously occupied Crimean peninsula.
On April 1 and 3 in Belgorod, Russia, about 50 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, first ammunition depots exploded, followed two days later by large fuel stores. Although eyewitnesses claimed that fuel tanks attacked two helicopters, it was almost a fantasy for the Ukrainians to pass through the multi-layered Russian air defense line, complete the task and return safely, however, it is precisely these losses that do not allow the Russians to muster up the strength to now attack in full Ukraine from the east. However, April should be difficult and a turning point in this war.

As for Putin's plans to pay for gas in rubles, so far the countries of the G7, and these are the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Japan, have rejected this demand of Russia. Moldova has definitely agreed to this, some other states are waiting.

The action of shutting off would really be not immediate as there are some existing contracts that need to be filled.
Maybe, after those contracts expired, European countries will assess the situation and push thru the shutting down of Russian services.
But if they can't find immediate alternatives or replacement, they may possibly continue to pay Russia, but now in rubles.
They will definitely weight the situation, but they won't be shutting down Russian gas if they can't find alternatives.

In countries such as Germany, industries are being shut down due to unavailability of gas. And even at this point, pipeline gas (as per contractual terms) from Russia is manytimes cheaper when compared to imported LNG from Qatar or the United States. The funny thing about pipeline gas is that the prices are linked to crude oil prices (although with a lag), and right now Russia doesn't make much of a profit from selling it. If the Europeans want to replace this gas with some other source, they may end up paying 3x or 4x extra.

They can try any tactics they want to try, it will not succeed for one simple reason. Russia is fighting with soldiers, and that makes sense, people who have military experience and guns and armour and weapons and tanks etc etc, that is how you go to a war. However, Ukraine has the advantage of the fact that they are fighting as a whole nation. Sure there are some people who are fleeing the nation and going to other nations.

But, every single person who stayed back, will be fighting Russia. So, it is not about Russia military versus Ukrainian military, it is more like Russian soldiers vs EVERYONE in Ukraine right now. This is why they are failing, and will keep on failing.

In some countries, why don't you name a few?
It's quite funny when I hear people talking about Europe and thinking that in northern Europe it's snow all year long, we all ride sleds and it's like Frozen every single day. Might surprise you but there is no such thing anywhere, this is Oslo in summer:
https://talkimg.com/images/2023/06/12/A8o7Z.jpeg

Europe gets way less snow than the US, it gets in a lot of parts less snow than Jpana and in some parts, it barely snows as in much of France, UK and Spain.
So really, stop with these silly things.


And of course, you have no real proof of the "many times cheaper" thing as you claim.
Let's debunk this myth of LNG being x times more expensive, directly from the source:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/energy/energy-diplomacy/us-lng-price-up-to-40-higher-than-russian-gas-novak/20225


So before all these events even Russia barely manages to claim its gas is 40% cheaper than LNG.

Turning off the gas is a serious technical problem. 

The equipment can function effectively only in the process of uninterrupted gas supplies to Europe.  In a situation where such supplies are completely stopped, technical problems will arise.  Pipes will begin to rust and will have to be replaced. 

At the same time, in the context of sanctions and currency restrictions, there are no resources for the implementation of such investment projects. 

Equipment conservation is always a financially costly undertaking.  Significant additional costs arise in the event of shutdown and conservation of the gas distribution system. 

At the same time, it should be noted that Russia currently does not profit from gas trading.  Russia profits solely from the sale of crude oil.

It could be easy to shut off these pipelines as easily as it is to operate. It only needs proper and regular maintainace to keep it in good shape. I don't see any technical problems that may arise. 

1. The gas distribution system that you are talking about now does not have significant critical restrictions when gas pumping is stopped. "Freezing" of a segment or even a significant part of such a system will not lead to irreversible processes.
2. Another thing is the transport/transit system pumping gas from wells to the GDS system from the first point. Leaving her without pumping is a completely different story. For example, you can pause pumping. And even within 2-3 weeks, no problems will arise. But in 6-12 months - it will arise! Moreover, these will be global problems for the entire industry. Let's move on to point 3.
3. Stopping gas production, yes, yes, this is exactly what will happen during a long stop of pumping through transport channels. The first reason is that Russia does not have a mega storage for gas, they have always used Ukrainian storage for the most part. The second reason is gas production technology. You can't just pick up and press the "pause" button. With a long idle time, the gas must either be burned or the well must be "frozen". It's stupid to burn gas, of course the Russians can. But given the prospects for sanctions, it will be necessary to burn until the reserves are depleted. Freezing - allows you to save stocks. But there is a problem - reactivation requires technologies and equipment that the "great oil and gas power" does NOT have! And because of the sanctions will not ...
Then think for yourself :)

Russia can totally go on with this plan, it's not like a new source would just magically appear to replace the gas it's supplying Europe. It would take years to build new pipelines to other existing sellers as well as building renewables to cover a portion of the energy need.

I do believe that Russia isn't going to immediately start charging in rubles (this is just me trusting they'd honor existing contracts) but it would in the near future.

As you noticed, the key players sent Russia with its nonsense and regular demands. Yes, rightly noted - there are contracts, and many of them end no earlier than 2025 and beyond. What does it mean ? This means that Russia will be forced to comply with the terms of supply, and the West, in the current situation, has a free hand and can impose any sanctions restrictions on the supply of these resources from Russia to the world market. The result, I think you can imagine? Yes, I agree - India and China will now buy up unsold surplus oil and gas from Russia at a bargain price, dictating to Russia the price at which they will be ready to buy. And Russia will dutifully sell them to get at least some benefit from the collapsing industry.

If it is possible I think the whole world will divert with china so we are waiting for good something no wair we want to pech as soon as possible any how. so we are waiting for a good world.

There is a lot of bluster and idle threats between the two countries, but it's a catch-22 situation for Russia right now. They produce very little else that is desirable to Europe, so the biggest and possibly only economic threat the can use to counter all the sanctions imposed against them is oil and gas. Yes it would hurt Europe, but in the short and long run it would hurt Russia much more. Europe is the most premium paying market for Russian oil and gas, paying almost half a billion per day and once those taps get turned off - there will be no chance of turning them back on again and rerouting that supply to much cheaper paying markets would take a very long time. Russia is playing a very dangerous game threatening to turn the supply off, which is why that has been kept relatively quiet for as long as possible, if they were truly serious then it would have been turned off weeks ago.

In my opinion, this is a very irresponsible geopolitical game. 

Russia is a European country.  Russia is not China or Asia.  The theory of Eurasianism is the most ridiculous and terrible thing that happened in the history of Russia. 

Network effects have not been canceled.  To function successfully in the world, it is necessary to actively trade and interact with other countries. 

At the same time, you need to take care of your customers (and not threaten them or hit them on the head with a stick).  European countries (including Ukraine) are the best buyers of Russian gas and oil. 

Russia is very lucky to have such a competitive advantage - a powerful oil and gas industry.  This industry was created by several heroic generations of Soviet people after the end of World War II. 

But without adequacy, any competitive advantage is meaningless.

I do not think that this blackmail will work with Putin. Europe has realized its mistake, having become dependent on energy carriers from Russia, and urgently, as far as possible, corrects the situation. Already in March, Russia received only 38% of the planned income from the sale of energy resources. Russian oil storages are full. One by one, private companies and entire countries refuse to buy Russian oil and gas. Ports refuse to transship oil, and insurers refuse to insure.

The list of countries that are still buying Russian oil and gas and not reducing volumes includes China, Hungary, and Indonesia. Some, such as Germany, Italy and several other Western countries, are either reducing supplies or planning to do so in the near future until they are completely abandoned.
India is now taking advantage of the situation and buying oil from Russia at almost half the price. But she doesn't need a lot of oil. Therefore, India will not save Russia in this regard. In the medium and long term, Russia will lose very big.

Gas is an energy source that could be replaced mainly, and if Russia goes down this road, which they already have that will result with European nations building faster and faster renewable energy sources. Right now, wind and solar getting so much attention that we are seeing it built every single day, like crazy.

Interestingly what this war did for climate change, politicians haven't done it in years, we are actually on a better road right now to save the world. This is why they could request ruble for now, but they will be getting much less money in the near future, and I mean like in a year or so it will start to show itself. They screwed themselves with this war for sure. Maybe not today, but for the future.

this is good news, I hope that what they say is true, because what I see on the news today, that germany is experiencing an energy crisis and their gas reserves are running low. I know that western countries and the US will try to protect friendly countries, but how long will Putin endure this attack?

Those are the prices when supply is regular. Once Russian gas is taken out of the equation, the demand for US LNG will increase manifold. The prices Europeans need to pay will be a lot higher than what they paid in 2021. There are a limited number of LNG terminals operating in the US and the output volume is not infinite. And it is ridiculous to even claim that LNG that needs to be transported more than 10,000 km with multiple regasifications can be traded at the same price as pipeline natural gas.

There are different, even opposing, analyses as regards Germany's fate should it decide to wean itself completely from Russia's gas and oil and even coal. But the numbers don't lie and that Germany is in fact heavily reliant on Russia with regard to these goods. This must be the reason why Germany was more careful in their steps when Russia started to invade Ukraine. But eventually it seemed Germany had to take that bold step. It is either they will remain hostage by Russia or they will contribute pressure for Putin to stop his madness. And Germany chose the latter. It is now their responsibility to urgently find alternatives.

Putin may do away with any timeline. He may send Russian troops to Ukraine no end regardless if they come home alive or not. But how long do Russians endure their leader's madness?

Yes, most middle aged men stayed behind and joined the army. They know the terrains better then the Russians and could in small groups ambush and inflict some serious damage. And fighting from three fronts probably stretched them far out.

I think Germany's problem is that there is no alternative to Russian pipeline gas right now and even in the next year or two. There is not enough gas supply on the market to replace the volumes that fell in the event of an embargo and will not be in the near future, there are not so many tankers and so many terminals for liquefied gas, and it takes time to build them. Under Merkel, Germany fell under the political influence of the Greens and closed its nuclear power industry, from 01/01/2022 three of the six German reactors were shut down, and from 01/01/2023 the other three will also stop. Cheap Russian pipeline gas is needed for German industry and as a raw material for fertilizers, even if it can be replaced with liquefied gas, it will be noticeably more expensive and this will make production in Germany simply uncompetitive. And in the absence of wind and generation on windmills, the embargo on Russian gas can even de-energize Germany.

The alternatives are in South America, through Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela, if you can buy it, the only thing is that the gas will be much more expensive, but there are alternatives, large gas pipelines can be built so that they can reach Europe much faster, that is an option because I do not see Europeans with gas cylinders on the streets, even more so when they are used to gas coming through their respective internal pipes.

The problem has worsened, but I think that both the USA and Europe began to impose very radical sanctions without taking into account the risks for themselves, the USA bowed its head against Venezuela and if Europe does not want to bow its head, it has to look for alternatives quickly.

You have to admit that Russia is currently in the position of superpower. And it's not just nuclear weapons that keep Russia afloat. It's right that they possessed the world's largest stock of nuclear weapons. Besides  It is also strong in economic and military and mineral resources.
Further study: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia

The war is not a video game that will occupy Russia in a few months if Ukraine is given a nuclear weapon. Russia has the manpower and enough troops that Ukraine does not have. Because Ukraine is a very small country. 

So, in terms of manpower and technology, Ukraine will not be able to compete with Russia. This is not to say that I am supporting Russia against Ukraine.

I also want Ukraine to win their freedom, a country that is passionate about independence, to win.  And let this devastating war end and peace return.

Your alternatives for supplying gas to Europe couldn't meet demand. Cost would obviously increase cause of high demand with little supply. With high prices and little supply, Every country would want to maximize its oil and gas reserve use so would your alternatives sources.

Russia supplies around 200 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe every year (40% of the total demand). If you take the supplies from the alternative sources (US LNG, Venezuela.etc), the spare capacity is less than 10% of the amount provided by Russia. On top of that, new regassification and LNG terminals take at least 5-6 years to build. To complicate things further, the Biden administration has taken many policies that negatively impact the shale oil and gas producers within the United States, ever since he took office in 2021 January.

Russia supplied this amount of gas to European countries earlier. Now the situation is rapidly changing not in favor of Russia because of the aggressive war unleashed by it and the desire to seize Ukraine. If just a week ago some European states were not ready to impose an embargo on supplies of oil, coal and gas from Russia, then after the publication of those terrible atrocities that the Russian invaders perpetrated against the civilian population in the Kiev region, Europe is almost ready to impose such an embargo even to the detriment of own interests. This is facilitated by the end of the heating season, and the previously proclaimed reorientation to "green" energy from alternative sources as a measure against a sharp climate change. European countries have realized that they need to get rid of their energy dependence on Russia, and therefore Russia will gradually lose its positions in this regard.

Despite all the propaganda, Russian crude oil deliveries for the month of May was sold out well in advance. Obviously the Europeans are reducing their purchases from Russia. But refiners in India, Indonesia and most importantly China have stepped up theirs. Saudi Arabia is making optimal use of this situation and the premium set for Saudi oil is at an all time high. European losers are wasting their tax money by buying super-expensive crude from "peaceful" and "non-aggressor" countries such as Saudi Arabia (let's ignore their ongoing military campaign in Yemen for a moment), and many of the countries in the EU are inching closer to bankruptcy.

It definitely would be convenient to forget Saudi Arabia's ongoing military campaign in Yemen and other crimes against humanity it has committed so as to be able to get expensive crude oil. The war in Yemen has been going on for years but no one seems to notice and send equipments and machinery to help. Perhaps if Yemen was to be an EU member state, it may have well been different than what it is now.

I think crypto industry can learn from Putin's master stroke of only allowing ruble for paying gas bills. Ruble was around 138/dollar in march starting and in April it is around 83/dollar. It also became best performing currency in march. So here the learning is if you want to increase the value of your crypto coin/token than you need to increase their use cases e.g. Payment for gas bills using ruble

Europe has considered Russia an aggressor since at least March 2014, when Crimea was annexed from Ukraine as a result of Operation "Polite People". There was a lot of noise in all political circles about this, the European Union, together with the United States, strongly condemned Russia's actions and imposed economic sanctions. Has Europe been able to get rid of, or at least reduce, its dependence on Russian gas in eight years and improve energy security level? The answer is no. There is no alternative to Russian gas for Europe, neither reasonable nor even unreasonable. And any statements to the contrary are cheap political populism in pursuit of pre-election popularity. "Pay for gas in rubles or die", it does not look like a difficult choice to think about for a long time.

What about electric heating or using pressed briquettes ? With financial support from government, private houses can change heating system. I am not an expert, but wont central heating be replaced with steam heating? I think it does not matter how to heat water in pipes, with gas or steam boiler. First years will be hard, but wont countries have some gas supply. And I think people can always buy gas from "Russia friendly countries" with the price cheaper than directly from Russia, but expensive then usually.

It's a fake course. There is no way to buy currency until September. As soon as it is - the course is above space.

Disagree. And I'll even prove it :)
"Super Country" is not something that can be measured with a ruler. Or the presence of nuclear weapons. For example, nuclear weapons - North Korea has them. Is she a superpower? Not !
Ukraine occupies a leading position in the reserves of titanium, uranium ores and something else - a superpower? Not ! Pakistan is in the top 5 countries in terms of population - is it a super country? Not ! So what is a super country? In my opinion, a super-country, this is a country that necessarily satisfies a set of indicators. These include:
1. Developed and leading economy.
2. A country that owns and is a developer and owner of technologies (the wider the coverage, the better - from toilet paper processing to genetic chemistry, semiconductors and the space industry)
3. A country that owns a strong and technologically advanced army. The effectiveness of today's army is not in the number of people and tanks, but in technologies and the ability to use them
4. A country with a strong political influence on the world community.
5. Rights and freedoms, legislative adequacy, developed and accessible medicine and other "society organizing services"

I think the list can be expanded. But these are quite enough for a simple, initial assessment. So if you apply this profile to Russia, you will be surprised to notice that none of its indicators are such that it can be attributed to a superpower! Moreover - for all it is almost at the bottom, and only in some, it is conditionally "average"!
Does its area seem "great" to you? So I will open your eyes - in Russia, more than 30% of its territory is habitable. 70% of the territory is not residential area! nothing has ever been built there, and never will be. There are no minerals and conditions for the development of anything. Population ? Yes many. But there are many countries where there are more people. Army. Well, we have already listened to this "fairy tale" .. Ukraine has proved that this is a lie and fake :) Resources? So after the introduction of the first sanctions, in Russia even simple A4 office paper became a shortage!!! Do you know why? That's right - the Russian economy is completely dependent on the technology of the West!
Would you like to continue the disappointment?! :)

OMG, this is very treat for all over the world So if it will take a real place it can harmful for all the world and the total system can clops I think.

Who told you that these two countries are against Russia? Where is that written? All the economic transactions that were with these countries did not stop for a second. The news that you are presented with is full of fakes and garbage.

“I know hundreds of ways to get a bear out of its den, but none to get it back in. Don't tease the Russian bear."
Great politician Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck

Why did no one learn to listen to smart people?
[/quote]

Because people are simply illiterate. They listen to the news that certain people choose to show them and draw conclusions. If a person wants to draw conclusions about something, then he needs information and brains. And if these components are not present, then we see the results now.

Today is April 11, 2022. In March, until April 1, the "leader of the greatest power" set an ultimatum - "whoever does not pay in rubles from April 1, the shipment of gas / oil will be stopped. I said so, I am the greatest ruler!" . Can someone tell without a smirk how the "greatest new Fuhrer" brought the whole world to its knees and how his ultimatum was implemented? And tell us what else do you think the "greatest ruler" will take in the next steps, who today brought the "greatest economy" to a financial default! :)

Europe can be warmed by even the dried shit of Ukrainian refugees, if it is sufficiently democratic and carbon neutral. Only 10-15% of the gas consumed by Europe is used for heating, the main consumer of gas is industry, and fertilizers for agriculture are also made from gas. The rejection of Russian gas will cause the collapse of the entire energy-intensive industry in Germany and Italy.

I will answer you here because you made your topic about the Russian "default" self-moderated. The snn article you link to is bullshit and premature ejaculation. Russia has more than enough money to pay all its debts immediately and in full. But the West needs Russia to declare a technical default in order not only to freeze the $300 billion of the Russian Central Bank, but also to expropriate them. This is the most common theft and robbery, the West issued a "black mark" to itself and undermined confidence in the dollar and the euro (as well as in the Japanese yen, the British pound and even the Swiss franc). Further, in essence, the due date for the payment, which could not be met due to the freezing of funds, was April 5th. After that, there is a month of grace period until May 5th. After that, creditors can present for default, but a quorum must take place, which must still be collected, which is technically not easy to do. Further, if the quorum of creditors still meets, the rating agency must declare a technical default. It is not clear which rating agency will be able to do this, they all stopped working with Russia due to sanctions. Then there will be a trial, because Russia has payments in its hands confirming that it paid its obligations in good faith on time, but the bank did not process these payments due to sanctions. And only then will there be a real technical default, and Russia will lose access to the external borrowing market, which it has already lost due to sanctions.

Let's have your next weekly package of sanctions, Russia puts them in a package with packages. ;D

I agree that Ukraine would have absolutely zero chance to invade Russia, that is not even to be considered at all. However, Russia is not a "super" power without nuclear weapons. There are nations with resources everywhere around the world and yet they are not that rich, they are doing alright or corrupted as hell.

Look at Venezuela, they have oil like no other nation around them and yet they are doing worse than all the others, why? Because they are corrupted. If they had no nuclear powers, Russia would have been terrible, they would have been Saudi Arabia at the very best. So, do not consider them as big as you may imagine, majority of their power comes from nuke threat.

Thanks for the answer. To begin with, self-moderation is evil for you? Do you think I will delete objectionable posts? I'm willing to give my word that, theoretically, only posts that are offensive or violate forum rules can be removed. If you want - if suddenly it comes to deleting posts - I will collect them in one post for "conservation". In a word, do not be afraid - we have democracy and not Russian totalitarianism with total control of everyone and everything :)

Well, on topic:

"The snn article you link to is nonsense and premature ejaculation." - this is just YOUR thought, but also far from reality. Few people believe in fairy tales about the fact that "Russia is a great power" for a long time. This is a country of a terrorist - yes, this is a country of a criminal - yes, a country of a thief - yes. But not great :) And she has as much money left as she has left. But at the same time, she has obligations, she has a need to wage a losing war in Ukraine, with huge losses and costs. And there is a desire to continue to violate the accepted international obligations, laws, agreements. Regarding the blocking of funds, these are sanctions in response to the annexation of a part of the territory of an independent country, as well as the unleashing of a terrorist war on the territory of Ukraine, by the way, the security of which was Russia itself. Sanctions do not contradict any norms and laws - if this is not the case, your arguments and references to the legislative framework. Moreover, you forgot one nuance - most of the blocked funds will be transferred to funds to compensate Ukraine for the damage caused by Russia as an aggressor.

So I'm sure we will soon see a further collapse of the "strongest economy, the greatest power", which is actually an empty shell and whose statements are empty words :)

Why make a topic self-moderated, you don't trust the qualifications of moderators? I avoid posting in self-moderated topics, especially when the author is actively broadcasting a position other than neutral. Your position is definitely anti-Russian, it can be seen from your posts.

You don't need a PhD in economics to understand one simple thing. With all the desire, it is very difficult to go bankrupt, having a sharply positive foreign trade balance and a planned budget surplus. When you earn more than you spend, you don't have to worry about getting a margin call. This is a basic truth in the economy, something that you can reliably rely on and this soil will never leave you from under your feet. Your neighbor, who skillfully uses credit leverage and has a planned deficit budget, is likely to have a higher standard of living, he will have a newer and more modern car, a more spacious house in a more prestigious area, but in case of reputation problems and stains on his credit history - he will start in trouble, from which he can lose both the car and the house. But when you honestly earned yourself a car and a house, and paid for them in full, you can afford to give a damn about your credit history and not become a homeless pedestrian. Think about it at your leisure.

As practice shows, apologists for the Russian world often turn the dialogue into a farce and turn to primitive insults! So the moderation itself is exclusively for this. And your right to like or not like this format. It is your right !

About the second part. The example you gave - absolutely agree with you! Everything is as you say! Having more income than expenses is a great indicator!
Here's just a nuance - what does this situation have to do with today's Russia? Russia has a huge internal deficit, Russia has huge spending on war, Russia has accumulated huge liabilities in recent years, Russia has absolutely real losses in the hydrocarbon market, and, accordingly, a tremendous decrease in revenue. Tell me - and in such a situation, what kind of stability and prospects can we talk about? Let's just be realists and talk about real events and facts, and everything will fall into place!

This characteristic can be given to any country in the world. I'm surprised that you just wrote about Russia. Do you really not consider this country great? Difficult times always happen, but we know history and understand that in such circumstances countries are forced to change their usual path and become only stronger. I am sure that Russia will cope with all the difficulties in the near future.

How true of the Russian Ruble having it's worth despite the sanctions imposed ?
Is the Rubble worth more than the USD right now ?
I asked a question some weeks back about who gain's from War, now I think it should have been, when two great countries fight the lower countries gain from them, who are the major benfitors of the war ?

In my opinion there isn't any victor on the battlefield as war is senseless and bloody

Putin is taking advantage of how much the Europeans need for the Russian gas and oil isn't compromised by the standing sanction. And this is a perfect strategy to awaken the slowly diminishing roubles.  I understand Putin is ensuring the Russian economy still stand tall despite the invasion and the irreplaceable desire for natural resources will still keep the Russian boarders open giving them the opportunity to demand their choice of payment gateway

This is how you counter those sanction imposed to them and Putin is doing a right thing since from this they can .ame their economy more stronger even if the sanctions has not lifted out yet. Also as Russia is one of major distributer of some important products for sure many country will still do a business with them since its a huge loss for anyone if they ride with those sanctions and curse russia for what they do.

Most easy way to pay is USDT also putijn will like it instead of btc becouse its stable so he dont need to worry about volatility so much.

It seems true. I did a recheck online and several articles also talks about this increase in the ruble currency. The reason why it happens is already discussed in this thread but no, the ruble price is not higher than US dollars price. As of today, 1 ruble is only equivalent to 0.012 US dollars.

For your last question, it looks like Russia is the one that gains or benefits from the war because of what happened to their own currency but is that enough? Don't forget that they are still in sanctioned and its effect have not worn off yet. There might be other reasons on why this war have started, not only by this one and I think it wasn't in the plan before?

Many countries indignantly refused to pay for gas in rubles. This is a violation of previously signed contracts. Most recently, at a meeting with Austria, Putin said that she could continue to pay in Euros, so the mood is not clear. I think Russia will sell gas for rubles, but selectively. A very difficult question, I think Putin will make you pay in rubles.

As we know that Russia is a gas-producing country that supplies many European countries, what Russia has done by requiring gas payments in rubles is an anticipatory measure in case of stricter sanctions, of course when transactions with rubles will create dependence on EURO or Dollars doesn't happen again.

Okay, let's say, Germany, Russia's biggest gas importer is not going to pay in Roubles and other European countries follow the step, then what? Where the fuck are they going to sell their gas and how the fuck are they going to profit? They need money to live. Also, every single day, the war requires a lot of money. Robert Habeck recently said that Germans should reduce demand on Russian gas as much as possible. He suggests Germans to lower the room temperature by one or more degrees, work remotely if possible and move on public transport.

Discovering alternatives is not as easy as we say. Germany is dependent on Russia for its mineral resources and Russia is taking advantage of this weakness.

If Germany takes steps in favor of Ukraine and contributes pressure on Putin about shutting down his madness, then the arrogant mad Putin will hit Germany's weak point by cutting off its gas, oil, and coal supplies.

It is to be hoped that Germany will find an alternative.
But when? And how?

A good step from russia to pressure europe, because of its high dependence on russian gas, russia dared to attack ukraine, and now russia is asking for payment in rubles so that europe will have to follow these rules or they will lose gas supply.

Regardless of whether or not what is being done, Russia is really clever in taking advantage of the existing situation,
they knew what they had to do so the pressure turned on Europe,
clearly I hope this war can end soon and Ukrainian civilians really suffer because of this

And what did Putin achieve? A large majority of European countries refused to pay Russia for oil and gas supplies in rubles. But the EU countries appreciated the blackmail of Russia and decided to quickly abandon Russian gas and oil forever. Putin should not have gone for such blackmail, because in the long run Russia will lose a lot from him.
Moreover, the sixth package of sanctions has already been practically prepared, which will be directed against the Russian Sberbank, and a complete embargo on oil and gas from Russia will also be introduced. Putin blackmailed. Europe completely refuses oil and gas from Russia. If these sanctions are introduced, the Russian economy faces a complete collapse.

Gazprom's long-term contracts are concluded in the post-paid format for each billing period. The next payments for gas under some existing contracts should be made this week. In the absence of payment for gas, after the grace period of five days, gas supplies will be terminated. Very soon we will find out who has the big balls in this story and whether Europe is ready to abandon Russian gas right now.

I think it was part of the plan from Russia and they really prepared everything,
it seems that it is indeed Russia's plan to pressure European countries that will impose sanctions,
after all we can see that this war is very complex and we will see how far this war will go

Another "victory" of the Kremlin ghouls :)
"Russian oil giant Rosneft was unable to sell 6.5 million tons of raw materials on the market, as it demanded a full prepayment in rubles, Reuters writes, citing traders."

Refiners in Europe are less and less willing to process Russian oil. The war and sanctions against the Russian Federation have already led to the fact that many Western buyers of Russian oil have stopped new spot purchases. Vitol Group, the largest oil trader, will significantly limit the sale of oil from the Russian Federation in the second quarter, and plans to completely stop trading in Russian raw materials by the end of this year. Prior to this, similar decisions were made by BP, Shell and Eni.

Link https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/rosneft-fails-sell-oil-giant-tender-traders-say-2022-04-25/

Now all of natto Related country trying to get facility from USA and Rasa getting sensation day by day so they cant do anything by treat I think.

Let's not pull out 1 line from the whole event? :)

What does the whole picture look like of what is happening on the gas market in Poland and around?! FACTS:

1. Real "first - go!" It was this winter when Russia, violating all contractual relations, with the aim of terrorizing consumers, in order to achieve its illegal desires, stopped the flow of gas towards the EU. I will not recall the previous, even earlier "first-go".
2. As early as March 17, 2022, Poland announced that it was refusing to buy Russian gas even under short-term contracts, and the contract, which ends in 2022, will not be extended. Those. in this case, which you pointed out, Russia has once again shown its "stability" by violating the fulfillment of its obligations and implementing its complexes. This is "normal" for Russia - feel free to describe the real picture :)
3. In September 2021, PGNiG signed a 20-year contract with the United States for the supply of liquefied natural gas. Supplies of liquefied natural gas from the United States to Poland will be increased from 3.5 million tons to 5.5 million tons per year from 2023. This increase will just approximately cover the critical shortage of gas, after the cessation of gas purchases from Russia, by the end of the current contract.
4. Polish gas market: 5 billion cubic meters - own production, about 6-7 billion through the Swinoujscie LNG terminal - a regasification terminal located in the Polish city of Swinoujscie. Designed to receive liquefied natural gas (LNG) from gas carriers, its subsequent regasification and transfer to gas distribution networks. This is approximately 12 billion cubic meters of gas. At the same time, the total consumption is approximately 15 billion. This means that Poland needs to buy 3 billion cubic meters from others (read - Russia). The contract, which Russia violated today, envisaged the supply of up to 9 billion cubic meters. Taking into account the gas terror from Russia that has already taken place, a project was launched to pump Norwegian gas, and around November 2022 this supply route will start working :)
5. Yes, Poland will now have a somewhat difficult period, but this is temporary, and even more so - summer. In 6 months Russia will finally lose a stable buyer of gas. What will Russia do with it, which has almost no storage facilities, will become a problem for Russia.

In total - another "victory in Russian", or as it is called in the rest of the world - "shoot yourself in the foot" :)

See how the information played with colors, how complete and multifaceted it turned out to be? :)

PS. Dear be.open, despite our diametrically opposed views, I respect your opinion. But a strong recommendation - do not submit such "unspoken" information! Anyone who spends 10 seconds checking it is guaranteed to come to the conclusion that you are either manipulating or distorting or giving "reluctant" or not revealing the "full picture". And you're doing it on purpose :)

I deleted my previous post because it looks like it was a bit premature and there was no confirmation from Gazprom. But since you managed to answer it, so be it, especially since it looks like the information about the termination of gas supplies to Poland under the Yamal contract is correct. Bulgaria also received a notice of gas shutdown due to lack of payment in rubles today.

The "full picture" is that Russia will no longer supply its resources without payment, which Russia is free to dispose of. Payment for gas in rubles is not some kind of April joke of Gazprom.

Europe wants to continue to receive resources from Russia, but that Russia does not receive money for this. This desire of Europe is understandable, but it is somewhat naive - in real life this does not happen, in order to get something you need you have to pay for it. Europe's attempts to refuse the supply of resources from Russia are demonstrative and generally untenable, it's like if you have running water at home, but you say - I'd rather switch to bottled water supplies than pay the bill for tap water, because I don't like the supplier tap water. And if there is not enough bottled water to take a shower every day, then I will wash less often, just to harm Putin. This would be a funny joke if it weren't for the sad truth.

Russian energy firm Gazprom has told Poland and Bulgaria it will stop sending gas to the two countries from today. Whatever they're doing, they should just not switch to Nuclear War. Because I still don't understand why some old men who have over, enjoyed their lives, seen it all in the world, had it all, would now start scattering everything and turning the world upside down for those coming behind when they're just about to exit already.

I think Poland is chosen by Europe as the advanced vanguard for reconnaissance in force, to see how serious Russia's intentions are to turn off the gas in case of non-payment. Now Europe has to pass the test of how United it is. If at least one of the EU countries gives up and agrees to buy Russian gas on Putin's terms, the rest of Europe will be able to buy gas through it in reverse, albeit more expensive than under a direct contract with Gazprom, but saving face. If all of Europe can say no, then there will be no more Russian gas in Europe.

Hmm... Do you think that all the European countries can say no? I don't think that they can, Hyper inflation and recession loading, Increase cost of energy and everyother price would increase. Hope we all know that Russia doesn't just supply gas to Europe, Russia supplies cheap gas to Europe. Russia supplies over 70% of gas needs to Europe. A supply that can't be replaced on that scale even in 5 years.

Of course not, I don't think so. Gas has risen in price by 25% per day on the stock exchange after the cessation of supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, Austria agreed to pay for gas in rubles, and Poland (according to rumors) increased the volume of reverse from Germany five times. Europe tried to bluff, but failed. Those who do not want cheap Russian gas will receive expensive democratic gas in reverse from the same Russian pipe.

With oil, it's about the same - whoever doesn't want Russian oil at a discount will get a democratic "Latvian mixture" (with 49% of Russian oil) without a discount.

I have noticed most EU countries are ready to cut Russian oil. Their politicians and media have been planting alarming stories just to psy ops Russia. There at least two months supply of energy storage bought at discount from Russia while alternatives were been sourced from opening mothballed coal and nuclear power plants to better inter country selling of electricity.

Meanwhile, summer is coming in two months.

Europe's dependence on Russian oil is not as depressing as it is on Russian gas, but there is a nuance. Oil refineries are designed for a certain grade of oil, and you cannot simply replace Russian oil with Arab oil, even if the Arabs are ready to sell it to you. You will have to reconfigure the refinery to a different grade and in some cases it is cheaper to build a new refinery than to reconfigure an old one. Even in the case of a democratic "Latvian mixture" mixing takes place only according to documents, and not physically (otherwise, along with the lack of a discount, a headache for reconfiguration comes as a gift). It is for this reason that Biden runs with a scalded ass to Venezuela and Iran, although the US itself is a major oil producer. It's just that without the addition of a few percent of heavy oil, most US refineries will not be able to operate normally without a dramatic fold drop in productivity. In Europe, in general, the situation is similar, dependence on Russian oil is not too large in volume, but there is nothing to replace it, even if OPEC agrees to increase production, which, in principle, is against their interests.

Summer is the time to replenish underground gas storages, in winter it will be too late to think about it. In addition, only a small part of Russian gas is used for heating houses, industry and power plants need gas regardless of the season.

It's the opposite, Russia tries to test the waters.

Poland has already told Russia it will not renew its contract because it's getting the gas from Noway via the Baltic pipeline, this was known from the start of the year well before the war started:
https://warsawinstitute.org/polands-plan-challenging-russian-gas-dominance/


So basically Russia stops deliveries to somebody who didn't want them anymore!

As for Bulgaria, it's the easiest target they could find, highly dependent and poor, with a lot of pro-Russian sentiment, if they would really want to test Europe they would cut gas to Germany, or, they would stop paying Ukraine for gas transit money!
But they know that if they go that way it's game over and there will be a lot of gas flaring happening.

Sokol is trading at 73.78 and Ural at 76.40, seems like deliveries to India and China are not happening or what?

Economic Genius

Four European Gas Buyers Made Ruble Payments to Russia (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-27/four-european-gas-buyers-made-ruble-payments-to-russia)


Looks like a nice try (https://tass.ru/ekonomika/14491321). ;D

According to Gazprom, so you could trust this just as much a badger doing your algebra homework..

Meanwhile, the only trustable news is this:
https://twitter.com/karlnehammer/status/1519236100375601152


As usual, misleading Russian fake news, who are those four European buyers? Hungary, Transnistria, Serbia and Abkhazia?
Use your brain, gas was already paid via Gazprom so how can you claim that 10 countries opened accounts at the bank now?
Go grab 3 sims copies (https://www.vice.com/en/article/88gpmg/russia-sims-3)!

Good evening ! :)
No, I checked it by myself - the application was received, the pumping of Poland and Bulgaria ("brothers Slavs" :) is stopped.
Everything else is your thoughts, ok. Only for some reason you bypass one important, I would say the key essence or event. It sounds very simple - Russia has refused, unilaterally, to fulfill its OBLIGATIONS under previously signed agreements. At the same time, Poland, adhering to correctness and legality, IN ADVANCE, back in 2021, warned Russia that after the end, in 2022, of the contract for the supply of gas, it would not be extended due to a change in supplier. The rest of the literature does not interest me. I am interested in the fact of Russia's dishonorable behavior as a supplier. But in fact, this is good - she, Russia, herself made every effort to show and prove to everyone her dirty game, non-fulfillment of obligations, violation of contractual conditions, instability. In a word, they showed that they are a very unstable, dishonest partner, for whom to “throw” a partner is like breathing air. The question is what do you think about Russia's image losses as a "stable" supplier. Well and in general, such behavior in the commercial market? :)

PS I see propaganda draws new pictures? :) No, no one will wash less, no one will eat less. The essence of the process is the completion of relations with a dishonest partner, an aggressor partner, a global terrorist partner. Due to the difficult transition process, the EU is well aware that there will be some period of time with less comfortable conditions.
By the way, about "washing less" and other propaganda tricks - what is it like in Russia, the population, at least 50% knows what plumbing, central heating, sewerage, not feed grain in bread and milk from milk and not from palm oil? :)

Russia has begun to think of itself as a superpower with a little bit of power. Now he is threatening not to supply gas to other countries!  For so long I have thought that if countries could not find alternatives, they would have no choice but to accept gas supplies on Russian terms. 

But I got the amazing information from the link shared by @stompix.  And it is only a matter of time before Russia's arrogant and aggressive attitude ends if the countries really form an alliance against Russia because of this alternative. 

Although Russia will try to form an alliance with one of the countries.  But, it remains to be seen whether Russia will face a single country hole against Europe. If Russia continues to threaten to cut off gas supplies, it will be a suicide for Russia.

Well, yes, the reality is not at all the same as the Kremlin propaganda draws.
1. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen: "This is unjustified and unacceptable. And this once again demonstrates the unreliability of Russia as a gas supplier. We are ready for such a scenario. We are in close contact with all Member States. We are working to ensure alternative supplies and the best storage levels across the EU"
2. No one will pay for gas in rubles.
A post on behalf of the Chancellor of Austria was posted on the clone page. So everything is ok, let's breathe.

It is true that other countries are angry with Russia and they are imposing various sanctions on Russia. And in this situation, Russia is expected to try to export more oil and gas to China and India. But the question remains whether China will ally with Russia in such a situation. First, Saudi Arabia will never allow Russia or any other country to take the lead in oil imports/exports. Second, China is not so foolish as to go against the whole of Europe for Russia.

The rate at which fake news are flying at this current time is confusing. Fake news everywhere, and you have tried to bring the fact to the table. Putin might try to bring his own rule to force europe to pay for gas in reuble but I don't think that will last cause many eupean countries will down that offer. Even though europe does not support Russia attack on Ukraine, that does not mean that Putin will force the entire europe to but gas in reuble.

I see no such act as blackmail from Putin. Russia and her monarch members has received so many sanctions from the US and his allies. Her economy keeps crumbling along with top major companies closing down their branches in state. The man just need something to boost his country currency and economy and of course taking payment in roubles from the west and other customers seem to be the highest chance he has.

I thinl that someone relevant came out recently that they found a loophole where they can pay in euros to Sberbank located in Switzerland (where the bank is not under sanctions), and thrn the bank will convert it into Rubles. I don't really understand how and why that would work, because this is not a case of finding loopholes in the contract as the contract itself and the terms were violated by Russia itself.

Russia IS a superpower, the difference is that their "super" power comes from energy, which is something that could be acquired by some other nation or even become self sustaining if we spend enough time and money on it. China did the same thing, considered themselves as a superpower, reality is that the money comes from the west for manufacturing things, if we manufacture somewhere else then they are done with as well.

If you do not have money yourself, just like.. have it, then there is no way you could keep it going. I personally believe that the more you depend on other nations the less powerful you will become overtime.

Russia can do various things because they have the power and natural resources that Europe really needs, this is what Russia is not afraid of economic sanctions from Europe or the USA, especially Europe's dependence on Russian gas for decades so that it becomes a political force that is hard to beat.

Moreover, most of the oil and gas needed comes from Russia, so even though the ruble is subject to sanctions, Russia can argue against Europe, who needs it more. and Europe is the victim because of the actions of Nato which was pioneered by America. On the other hand, the joining of China with China seemed to raise Russian guts about the country's economy, and this formed a new power for Russia.

Russia is not as independent from other world as it might look at a glance. We all know that they have huge supplies of recourses, but having them is not enough. They cant fence off everyone and live their own life. Because one day they will run out of necessary imported goods. They need to get imported goods back and they need resource buyers. Simple economy basics.

Right now a lot of Russians think: We have a lot of resources, we will wait until Europe runs of of gas or petrol, wait till winter and everything will get back. On the other hand, Europe can spend a lot of money to build a system that will substitute gas with electricity for heating, or to build pipes that will allow to get gas from somewhere else, or find a way to substitute supplier. What can Russia do when they run out of spare parts, electronic stuff for devices and everything else? It will take more time to develop and produce all these from very beginning, than, for example, for Europe to build a gas pipe from Canada or Iran.

This might be childing explanation, but I hope you get the overall idea.

The economy and domestic market of Russia is one of the most import-dependent in the world! In fact, there is no closed-cycle production in Russia. They cannot produce 95% of goods and services without Western components, technologies... Have you ever been to Russia? Let me explain - if you go into an average apartment, inside of 100% of the available things, 99% will be IMPORTED or made from imported components, or produced using foreign technologies, on foreign equipment, under the control of Western specialists ... I have relatives living there, Novosibirsk. the third largest city in Russia. Relatives "hysterical patriots". They argued, went to count how many "Russian things" they have in the house. At first, almost all things were "Russian" :) Then they started to figure it out, do you know what turned out to be Russian in the whole apartment? Several cans of Russian-made CANNED from a Russian factory. True, I will assume that there is imported equipment !!!!!! Here is the "greatness" of Russia! :)

The world is currently going through a nerve war and its effects are beginning to be felt worldwide. As a result of the Ukraine war, the United States and its Western allies have imposed various sanctions on Russia in order to corner Russia. Russia, on the other hand, is trying to stem the ruble's decline through its oil, gas, and other exports. By cutting off oil and gas supplies, Russia is currently trying to put pressure on Europe and gain its support. Europe would rather not be cold and obviously, it needs gas there, then again, they additionally certainly need to affect Russia yet without a doubt Putin isn't excessively shallow and he has pondered this cautiously.

I've been in Russia about 20 years ago. Never really desired to visit it (except Moscow or St. Petersburg maybe), as it wont be very different from my hometown.

The fact that most of goods in Russia are imported does not mean that Russia can not produce them by themselves. That is only because it was cheap to get these goods imported, than to develop a production "at home". With my post I wanted to tell, that it will take, lets say 5 or 20 years, to start a production of most imported goods, when it will take less than 5 years to substitute Russian gas pipes and oil.

European countries would have to accept Russia's terms and agree to pay for Russian gas in rubles.  If they refuse Russian gas, Europe will suffer a huge gas shortage, the signs of this are already present.  Power has started to be interrupted, businesses that use gas as a chemical raw material will have to stop.  Putin's decision to switch to the ruble causes trouble for the EU

Quoting again one armchair general who knows it all..

Obviously, since all you do it take guess you've ignored my offer to put your money where your mount is but a bit of public flogging is still what you deserve. It's been a month, not a few weeks since you posted this, and what a surprise, Ukraine's defense is not falling apart and Russia hasn't conquered half of Ukraine. Actually, how do you call this? 10% or 11%?

https://talkimg.com/images/2023/06/12/A8fT2.jpeg

So, don't you think it's about time to quit it?


How? For god's sake, how!!????

There is only one pipeline to China has a capacity of 39 billion cubic meters it will be expanded by 2026 to 50 million.
There is no pipeline to India, Europe buys 150 billion cubic meters.
What is Russia going to do with 120 billion cubic meters, sell it to whom and how?????

well, this is of course not a very good option for Europeans. The currency will have to be converted and, accordingly, the states will lose money

well it is a retaliation against a hostile country that imposes economic sanctions on russia. Of course a country like Germany feels this is extortion because Germany is forced to buy gas from Russia using the Russian currency, namely the ruble, and if Germany does not accept these conditions then Russia will not sell gas to Germany and gas prices in Germany will rise drastically. Among all NATO member countries Germany is a country that is in the most difficult position due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine because most of the energy in Germany is supplied by Russia.

In my opinion, this is not revenge. This is a normal reaction from a country subjected to harsh economic sanctions. It is not in defense of Russia or Putin's position. But you will not expect a country subjected to sanctions to stand silent, even if Russia was wrong in the decision to invade Ukraine (and it really is), but It will not remain silent about any action taken against it and will respond in kind. Russian gas is a very powerful card in Russia's hands, which Russia uses against Europe whenever it is forced to do so, and Germany is the biggest victim. Europe must find an alternative to Russian gas to get rid of the Russian pressure card.

This is an open market and Russia, as a major player, is well aware of the possibilities of each supplier of natural gas. Europe will pay for Russian gas in circumvention of its own sanctions for as long as Russia itself allows it - because Europe has no other alternatives and will not have in the foreseeable future.

In the sixth package of EU sanctions against Russia adopted today, there is not a word about natural gas, this issue is not even discussed.

Do you really think that it is a big problem to dispose of excess energy? Even the option of simply burning excess gas sounds much better for Russia than supplying it to Europe without payment.

Europe has frozen Russian money and is trying to steal it. This is a big mistake and it will have consequences. I think Putin will ban (http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001202205030001) the export of natural gas to Germany in May (for the nationalization of Gazprom-Germany assets and for trying to pay Gazprom for gas with Gazprom's own money) and prohibit the reversal of gas to all importers in Europe who agree to buy Russian gas for rubles. "Liver Sausage" Scholz can already pack his suitcase and get ready to retire.

When we learned this news, everyone said that none of the countries would pay in rubles for gas. What do we see today? European countries depend on Russian gas and if they do not want to freeze, they will pay in the currency that Russia chooses. Good Russia or bad, but it has gas, but Europe has no gas. We can talk a lot about this, but there is only one result - change money and buy gas.

The thing that makes Europe powerless to pressure Russia to stop the invasion is gas dependence, if gas is stopped then automatically a lot of industry and electricity in many European countries will stop and the losses are certainly bigger, of course it is very difficult to find a substitute country for gas supply.

I would guess that there could be some alternatives, I mean yeah we are seeing it not get done for now at the time being but that doesn't mean that it will have to stay that way forever. Gas is not something that only Russia has, other nations have it as well and Europe could handle a way to get it one way or another, via any nation they need to and just pay more if they have to and get this done.

Or they could just drop the need and get a lot less from somewhere else and cover the other needs some other way. It is not "impossible", quite a tough task but not impossible which means that if they want to get rid of Russia dependence, they need to find an alternative solution.

The objective reality is that there are simply not enough volumes on the market to compensate for Europe's refusal of Russian gas - and this is not only a question of price (Europe as a whole is already forced to buy Russian gas much more expensive today than, say, a year ago). But of course there is an alternative solution - you can abandon the entire energy-intensive industry and this will significantly reduce Europe's dependence on Russian gas.

Russia's important step to suppress Europe is with gas, as we know that more than 50% of Europe's gas supply comes from Russian gas pipelines, so when a conflict occurs, of course, Russia will benefit, apart from Europe, Russian gas is also supplied to many countries including India.

I heard that Poland and Bulgaria were now suspended by supplying gas because they failed to pay with rubles, there was no official statement from the two countries but what I heard was that the 2 countries immediately paid with rubles, of course this was a power from Russia because of European dependence on Russian gas supply .

There is a "type" of person in the world that glories Russia for some reason. I do not know the exact reason for it but they do have a Culture, so maybe it is about loving their culture or something but it could be political as well.

So, we would have to actually consider these people fans of Russia basically, and they will end up saying things like Russia will beat ANYONE in the world, some think that Russia is bigger than the west as well, or just imagine China combining forces with Russia and become bigger than the west. This is a funny thing to anyone who knows the reality, just the USA alone has bigger military power let alone other nations, but it's who they are, what can we say.

I can't imagine how much damage will happen if European countries don't buy gas and oil from Russia anymore...

factories, vehicles, and also electricity are things that are very dependent on oil and gas, If this stops then activities will be paralyzed and the economic cycle will stagnate. I know it's difficult but paying in rubles they have to obey because it relates to their millions of citizens but if there is another solution they have to choose that so the sanctions on Russia can be effective.

Well, the Russian government has approved a list of legal entities against which retaliatory sanctions will be applied. There are 31 companies on the list (http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001202205110017?index=2&rangeSize=1), among them EuRoPol GAZ S.A. - the owner of the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline and the German subsidiaries of Gazprom. I don't know how Germany is now going to buy and physically receive gas from Russia, even if it really wants to.

I think Germany will have to learn to live without Russian gas (or urgently reanimate Nord Stream 2, and even this is not a fact that will help).

Germany - buys for rubles? :):):):):)

Are you distracted from Russian TV even for a second? :) Germany is very unambiguous, and back in April it said that under the terms of the contract, payment is in foreign currency and not some papers with the name ruble. And accordingly, Germany will comply with the terms of the contract, and if someone wants to fight in hysterics, pretending that he can set conditions for someone, then he can even climb the walls in his bunker. Payment only within the terms of the contract! Or can you provide evidence to the contrary? Well surprise! :)))

And this link is interesting, well, to make it more interesting: The European Union confirmed the refusal to pay in rubles for gas from Russia (https://www.dw.com/ru/%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%8E%D0%B7-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B4%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%BB-%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7-%D0%BF%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%8C-%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%BC%D0%B8-%D0%B7%D0%B0-%D0%B3%D0%B0%D0%B7-%D0%B8%D0%B7-%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%B8/a-61665784)

Here (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-11/italy-sees-russian-gas-to-keep-flowing-as-ruble-accounts-opened) is also an interesting link and a week more recent - the Prime Minister of Italy says that European companies can pay for gas in rubles.

In general, European politicians say a lot of things, but at the same time, it is not politicians, but commercial companies that conclude contracts for the supply of gas.

A lot of things are left in the grey zone, open for interpretation. Many of us may have heard about the "Latvian Blend". This is a new brand of crude oil which came in to picture recently. Petroleum giant Shell PLC came up with this brand, in order to continue dealing with Russian crude. In order to avoid breaking the sanctions, Shell agreed that they will stop the purchases of Russian crude. Here "Russian crude" refers to any crude oil blend with 50.00% or more of it's input originating from Russia. So what they did, they purchased equal amount of crude from Russia and Kazakhstan, and then transported it to the port of Ventspils in Latvia. Here the crude from two different countries are blended together to make sure that 50.01% of the blend is Kazakh in origin and the remaining 49.99% is Russian. Just one example of how the politicians and businessmen continue to fool ordinary people.

No matter what they say in the end you will see that they are buying oil and gas from Russia by rubble, whether openly or secretly.  Because they have no choice but to do so.  Europe imports 40% of its oil and gas from Russia.  Europe will have to spend a lot of time looking for alternative routes and will have to pay higher prices than could be bought from Russia. I wouldn't call selling oil and gas in rubles a blackmail because if everything can be bought with USD then why not rubble?  The USD is a country's currency, the ruble is also a country's currency .

And in the end, no one except a couple of "Kremlin's pet dogs" pays in rubles :) I understand that there is a huge group of pro-Kremlin influential politicians (bought or dependent due to compromising evidence) in the EU who can lobby interests, or at least destabilize the situation with their statements . This is normal for such a global confrontation!

Ruble went down in valuation because of the restrictions imposed upon them and they can demand pay in their currency to balance that and since Russia have the upper hand because majority of the oil is imported to Europe they will be forced to comply as there is no other country that will be able to comply with the demand. If i remember correctly even OPEC rejected the proposal to increase production.

OPEC has production agreements with Russia and other non-OPEC oil producers. This severely limits their capability to increase the output. And it doesn't make any sense for the OPEC to bring down oil prices. Why should they agree to something that can reduce their revenue? Countries such as Saudi Arabia suffered a lot when crude oil was trading at $40 to $50 per barrel during 2014 - 2021. Now why should they let go this golden opportunity, which can reduce their budget deficit and external debt?

You are in too much of a hurry and too early to sum up. This story hasn't even really begun yet, we can say now we are witnessing a prelude, or maybe the first act. Russia has made its first move in this economic war that the West has declared against it and has imposed sanctions on all Gazprom subsidiaries in Europe and around the world. Now all long-term contracts have become invalid, because they were not signed directly with Gazprom, but with its subsidiaries, which are now under sanctions. Contracts will have to be renegotiated (or not), under the terms of Russia with payment to Gazprombank and conversion into rubles, and at other prices. Germany will no longer be able to make huge money on the reverse of Russian gas. Poland can scream all you want about its rejection of Russian gas, but the gas it received in reverse from Germany was suddenly also Russian. The next cycle of payments for gas already supplied by Russia should be in the range from 15 to 20 May. Have some patience.

True, although the European Union condemned the decision but Russia must do it to balance the value of their currency. in a war situation like this the organizational regulations will not apply to a big country like Russia, this can be proven when Russia does not heed the request from the head of the UN for Russia to stop the invasion of Ukraine. I also heard that Russia left the UN Human Rights Council and also left the nuclear agreement.

Russia should not over-react at this point. They are earning tens of billions of USD right now from the high gas prices. Let the EU pay all this amount, and in the long term it will be beneficial for Russia. I guess that the gas exports will decrease from a level of 180 billion cubic meters in 2020 to around 150 billion cubic meters by 2022. But the difference is that they earned less than $25 billion from these exports in 2020 and will earn at least $150 billion in 2022 (thanks to the higher gas prices). And back in 2020, the net profit was only around $2billion. This may go up by at least 50x in 2022.

Yes, I know about such a "mixture"! Yes, I know that in this way the EU bypasses its own sanctions. Yes, I know that there are many more "dubious" activities going on right now, from primitive deception to even sabotage. This is to be expected when huge money is circulating in this area, where there are high stakes, where sanctions create problems not only for the criminal, but, unfortunately, for the other side as well. Moreover, I know that in the modern world, especially riddled with corruption, this is "normal". But I see no reason to stop putting pressure on international terrorists, break up and replace corruption schemes, and build a safe hydrocarbon market.

I wish the parto-dollar deal should stop - It will be a good thing for world economy. But US will never let this happen.
The parto-dollar deal is the only thing which is keeping Dollar at the top. My country wanted to trade in local currency but have seen serious threats. This won't happen. The russian - america war will be game changer.

Europe is making apparently suicidal attempts to turn off Russian energy and the European economy is heading towards collapse at high speed. In such circumstances, I consider the systematic cutting off of economic ties between Russia and Europe quite reasonable, so that sinking Europe does not drag Russia along with it.

Well, you hurried and confidently declared that the EU pays in rubles, the sanctions do not work, only the EU, the USA and others who supported the sanctions lost, Gazprom outplayed everyone, Russia only won in the end? Do not rush to conclusions, this is a pre-mortal activity, this happens just before death :)
Believe me - NOTHING will change on May 15-20! Moreover, the Kremlin lost another of its pet dogs - the former pro-Kremlin president of Hungary, now there is a normal president there, who immediately openly declared Russia's crimes, and of course he will no longer play on their side!

PS I have gained patience since childhood, since the 1980s, when all three TV channels broadcasted about "the collapse of the USA tomorrow", then I "waited" for the collapse of the dollar, then the Western world order, then the collapse of the EU :) So far, in the real world only the USSR collapsed, and Russia followed their path. I'll still be patient, ok! :)



An amazing transition from one to another, but oh well.
Ok, the question is - who forbids you to pay with your local currency?! Well honestly? USA or still a supplier? The USA doesn't forbid you anything! For example, being in the EU, I calmly make payments with a card in my native currency in hryvnia, and banks eventually credit, for example, euros to a restaurateur. I can give many more examples - no one forbids anything to anyone. Well, except for criminals. Maybe we don't know something? Share the story of how the United States forbade you to pay with your local currency?

They had hundreds of years to generate an alternative to Russian gas and they didn't. All this complacency has produced results and Europe will have to lend an arm to avoid a collapse.

That is so lame. See what crisis Pakistan is going through because of the oil deal with Russia.
Do you think me and you pay for government big deals. Oil is only purchase in Dollar and I am sure you are aware of the partrodollar deal which was done back in 70's. Time to do some research.

It is quite logical that for sufficiently important resources they pay with a stable demanded currency. It can be the Dollar (the main currency of international payments), the Euro. But there cannot be a ruble or, for example, the Ukrainian hryvnia. Here on the domestic market, the produced gas or oil is sold for UAH. And the international market is used to working with a unified convenient means of payment. Or do you want to have 200 pairs of trading rates, purchases of a separate currency for a separate product? Well, let's switch to a natural exchange ?! Why money at all?

All the rules are man made. And I hope these hard times will change the face of the world.
Russia need to look at their economy - they have never thought of the horrible sanctions - The war must stop now!

There is no viable alternative to the Russian gas. It is outright stupid to believe that pipeline gas can be replaced with LNG. To start with, neither the EU has that many LNG terminals, nor that much spare capacity exists among the LNG producers. And it is ironical that the same people who have shut down the nuclear power plants, there by increasing the dependence on the Russian gas are now pushing ahead with their plans for a total embargo on Russian energy exports. I don't understand what is going through the mind of these EU idiots. Their stupid sanctions have hurt them more than anyone else.

The only reason why EU is doing that because if ukarine falls then Russia is sitting very next to Poland and can directly attack to EU countries now. Due to this fear EU are willing to give up Russian pipeline gas and moving to super expensive LNG. These are just my few satoshis.

Do not be silly, the only reason for such suicidal behavior of Europe in general and Germany in particular is that Europe is not politically independent and Biden's hand is up to the elbow in Scholz's ass.

All of Europe to Portugal is shot through with Caliber from the Caspian Sea. Not to mention Kaliningrad and Belarus.

ps From today, Finland is in the club, gas supplies from Russia have been stopped.

Cutting off trade with russia is like jumping in the deep dark well. I am not able to understand. How EU decided to put so many sanctions on Russia - being well aware that they are their oil and gas suppliers and there is no alternative to it. Now another trouble is coming. Let's see how EU comes out of it.

Here in India, we are suffering from the consequences of the war that is being waged thousands of kilometers away from our borders. The government today reduced taxes on diesel and gasoline to make them more affordable to the common people. But that also means that tax rates need to be increased in other domains. Some of the oil and gas supplies are now coming from Russia at discounted rates, but they make up only a small portion of the overall imports. People in my country are being made scapegoats. 

Yes, the war had really affect so many countries especially the European Union that is made up of countries that depends much on the oil and gas from Russia. People have started seeing the reason why the war needs to be stopped because many citizens can not afford the price of gases this time around. If the war continues, then it will have effect on most countries that depends on Russia for raw materials and gas supplies.

It is not just affecting the countries that are dependent on imports from Russia. India gets most of it's oil and gas from the middle east. But the embargo on Russia has resulted in a huge spike in oil and gas prices and therefore we are suffering from it. Central bank has increased it's repo rate and suddenly the EMIs have become more expensive. Trade deficit is widening to unsustainable levels, and inflation rate is skyrocketing. I would rather blame the US and EU, for their stupid sanctions and embargoes. Rather than hurting Russia, these sanctions have hurt people like me.

@Sithara007 - I read your comments everyday. I have read and heard in news that INDIA purchase oil and gas from Russia. But when Pakistan tried to purchase oil and gas from Russia we saw serious consequences. And out elected government was toppled. We are in political and economic turmoil.

rights, political and economic turmoil. Indeed, from the start, politics and economics seemed inseparable, because they were loaded with government interests. may be a temporary problem for Russia, with their reduced oil exports, but for countries importing oil from Russia, of course this is a serious problem, of course the problem of inflation in their country is inevitable. therefore the weak will eventually follow the will of the key holder

seems like a suicide weapon in the political economy between Russia and the West. Western countries are too sure to destroy Russia but do not realize that all their oil and gas needs are in Russian hands. western countries have received criticism from russia to get oil must pay in rubles indirectly they have supported the russian economy by destroying its own economy. really confusing.

That the point I also mentioned - they EU are putting so much sanction on Russia on the request of US. Are they not being aware that they need oil from Russia.
The world need oil and gas no matter what but sanction over sanction to destabilize Russia - now the trouble is coming - let's see how the EU reacts.

No that is not correct. The countries which are trading oil and gas from Russia have no quick alternative. They have to negotiate with Russia.
SOme of the countries which did not interfere in Russian Ukraine war - Russia did not cut off the oil supply and they are going good. I think it is unnecessary for other countries to jump into the war. They should try to convince both countries to hold dialogue and find solution.

Bulgaria will hold talks with the European Commission in the coming days and discuss with its representatives Russia's demand to pay for gas in rubles (https://btvnovinite.bg/bulgaria/mozhe-li-i-balgarija-da-plashta-za-ruskija-gaz-v-rubli.html) lol.

Let me remind you a month ago, Bulgaria and Poland refused to pay for gas under the new scheme, and Gazprom stopped gas supplies to these countries.

Well.. it is not that simple. First of all, the Indian government has avoided direct confrontation with the US administration. While it is true that the share of Russian oil imports jumped from 1% to 15% during the last few months, it still represents a small portion of all the crude oil that is imported to India. Iraq remains the top supplier. And secondly, in order to appease the American administration the Indian government cancelled a few defense deals with Russia. Essentially, the government is walking on a thin line with little room for further maneuverability. And at the same time, they are bargaining hard with both the sides.

And why did you again pull out a piece from the interview, passing it off as the main essence, moreover, as the main message? Don't believe? Let's compare what you put in the headline and what is actually? :)
You write: "In the coming days, Bulgaria will hold talks with the European Commission and discuss with its representatives Russia's demand to pay for gas in rubles"
The article, in fact, is called "Can Bulgaria also pay for Russian gas in rubles?".
There is a difference, right? And now I will briefly retell what the interview itself is about. This is where it gets even more interesting!

And so - what is it all about?
And it’s about the fact that reporters are interested in the opinion of the Minister of Energy, on such a question (journalists ask this question) - if Germany and Italy pay for gas in rubles (as the Kremlin terrorist demands in hysterics since April 1), then what should be the position Bulgaria, Poland and other countries that adhere to the legal side and comply with the terms of the contract, and not someone else's fantasy.
To which the minister replies - that the question is good, and it will be voiced at the level of the European Commission (which is categorically against fulfilling the idiotic demands of the global, including economic, terrorist). The Minister also notes that yes, the level of solidarity should be maximum, and if there are exceptions, this should be discussed. At the same time, the minister said that Gazprom uses gas supplies "as a political tool for pressure", and "the most unpleasant thing is that he (Gazprom) is an unpredictable partner."
And to the question of journalists "Why YOU SAY that Russia wants to use Gazprom as a weapon to destabilize Bulgaria", he answered bluntly - "because, obviously, she has an interest in this. This is my interpretation of what is happening"

Also, very lol (by the way, why did you decide to skip it? :) ), he told that at the beginning of June tankers with liquefied gas from the USA ALREADY ARRIVAL, and a contract was signed with the USA where the price of gas is BETTER than the price from Gazprom! This is real lol! :)

I'm laughing from the very fact and from the posing of the question. If everything has already been decided in Bulgaria, they have abandoned Russian gas and even found a more profitable option on the side - why discuss with the European Commission the issue of paying for Russian gas in rubles?

To "satisfy the United States" broke "several contracts"? And then explain: the contract for the development and implementation of the 5th generation aircraft, for what reason was it closed? And for the development of the IL-214 aircraft? And the contract for the supply of helicopters?
I will remind you!
The big picture is that India is the largest importer of Russian weapons. But around 2018 (following the results of failed projects with Russia), a systemic failure and replacement of suppliers began. for example, in 2018, the export of weapons from Russia accounted for approximately 80% of the total. Today - about 35% with a decreasing trend.
And some historical facts.

2017 - Russia and India suspended the process of joint work on the project of the Il-214 multi-purpose transport aircraft, which was expected to replace the obsolete An-12 aircraft in the Indian forces. The project started in 2000. By 2017, it turned out that the Russian side, by 2017, had not even developed a prototype! "Satisfied with the USA"? :)

2018 - India abandons the MIG-29 due to constant breakdowns, delays in the supply of components, general problems with the maintenance of this model, and most importantly, constant violations of the deadlines for the execution of work by the Russian side. Oh yes - just for information - "Most of the problems were observed with the power plant, as a result of which, since February 2010, 40 engines have been withdrawn from service due to factory defects." Wow, what an insidious USA?! :)

2021 - The Indian side suspended participation in the program to create the first Indian fifth generation fighter FGFA (Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft) based on the Russian Su-57. The reason is the constant violation of deadlines, failure to fulfill / failure to achieve the set targets, lack of visible prospects for this model.

2022 - India refused to buy Russian Mi-17V5 helicopters. the rejection of the deal has nothing to do with the war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine. Its reason was the desire of local authorities to support the national program to replace imported products with local ones.
“A decision was made to close the deal. The government explained that the decision was made as part of supporting the program for the production of local medium-lift helicopters long before the start of the war in Ukraine,” the report says.

At first Europe thought that if they imposed sanctions on Russia, it would weaken Russia, but without them realizing it, the sanctions had backfired on Europe itself because their dependence on gas from Russia was quite large so far,I think it's a pretty awesome trick that putin used to against europe by using the ruble as a transaction tool in the purchase of gas, if Europe does not want to do as Russia says of course the European economy will experience a bad impact, especially the industry due to lack of gas supply.

As I mentioned in my post, the war may not have anything to do with the decision from Indian government to cancel this deal. But it is being presented to the Americans as India's reaction to the war in Ukraine. India is a strategic partner for both the US and Russia. The Americans can't pressurize India as much as they do with Pakistan. The latter is overdependent on military aid from the US, while India's case is not like that. BTW, for the last decade or so, the Indian government has been trying to replace the imported helicopters with the locally manufactured ones. But the fact is that the ones manufactured by the HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) can't compete with the imported products.

Now Russia is increasingly serious to pressure Europe to follow the rules, gas is an important issue because Russia sees European dependence on gas and of course to replace the supply of gas supply takes a long time, if there is no gas then it is certain that Europe suffered a greater loss.

Those. you yourself gave the material, took one phrase out of context, and now you don’t understand what it is for? :)
Well what can I say ? Once again, recount the entire article, carefully, and understand what it is about? :) If you do not pull this sentence out of the entire article, but read everything in full, and remember who asks whom questions and who answers whom, then the situation will become much clearer! Honestly ! Just carefully read the article you provided :)
But if it's difficult, then I'll explain, it's not difficult for me :) The question is not about Bulgaria paying terrorists gas in rubles. The question is why some EU members allow themselves to think that they may not adhere to the laws and agreements adopted for EU members, and how others should react to this.

You just took and voiced the "final fanfare of the opera", without voicing it all :)
The story begins much earlier - from the moment when the pro-Kremlin lobby created the most comfortable conditions for the monopolization of the EU market by Russian gas. By the way, we must pay tribute to the more conscientious participants - not everyone succumbed to their pressure or influence.
So. Today, in connection with the terrorist war, the European Kremlin gas lobby has nowhere to go - it is necessary to impose sanctions against terrorists. On the other hand, the Kremlin is waving at them compromising evidence or wads of money, which they promise not to put in the pockets of the lobby again. Therefore, an internal conflict begins. If we take the EU, then today Germany and Italy turned out to be the most dependent on the Kremlin's gas, in terms of the volumes of gas needed to meet their needs. Other consumers either do not have such dependence, or consume volumes that can be easily replaced by alternative supplies. And of course, Germany and Italy will have to go through some kind of crisis, but this is a retribution for lobbying the interests of criminal regimes, this is expected...

I don't need to present tons of evidence to support this. Just one is enough. The Dutch TTF Natural Gas prices have been around 30% higher than the LNG Japan/Korea Marker for the last few weeks. Before the war, East Asian prices used to be higher than the Dutch hub prices. The reason is that stupid Europeans are now importing gas from half way around the globe and still can't replace all the pipeline gas that is being provided by Russia. The competitive advantage German heavy industries had over their Japanese competitors have now vanished in to thin air.

How it is presented to the Americans, or to a housemate, or in the market - everyone is free to voice it as he likes. I just showed that the problem of low-quality Russian weapons is in no way connected with any requirements of third parties, but is of a long-standing and systemic nature. Plus, I don’t think that India is a country where the US will tell it what to do, India is not a technologically backward country with a resource economy, but a very significant part of the world economy, which has its own regional and global interests. And what is important - India has quite a significant weight in the world economy and is actively developing. The issue of developing your own helicopter platform is a matter of not a single decade, this is the development of entire sectors of the economy, technologies, this cannot be done quickly and immediately with high quality. Therefore, it is quite expected that after signing the development program tomorrow you will not receive your helicopter!

This is not the first time India is trying to replace the Russian made weapons with locally manufactured ones. The first attempts were made two decades ago. But everytime the HAL delivers low quality products (even worse then those from Russia) and in the end the defense ministry is forced to go back to dealing with Russia. One advantage with Russian weapons is that they are very affordable compared to the ones from France or Germany. And with one of the lowest per capita GDPs in the world, India can't afford to splurge a lot of money on imported weapons. And sourcing them from China is out of consideration, due to poor relationship between the two countries.

There is a lot of chaos in this region. The things are unstable - in India and Pakistan, and then there are super powers like Chine and Russia and then there is Afghanistan and Irqa and Iran on the other side. Will that instability end some day? I am not sure!

Europeans will have too be patient and endure at these times.
They cannot just ditch Russia immediately, they have to improvise and look for another source for gas supplies in Europe.
I think Saudi Arabia are good back ups, but how much gas can they contribute, can they emulate Russia ? As far as I know Russia has the highest proportion when it comes to gas supplies in the World and European nations about 45%

This fuel war is not going to end soon. However - Russia provide fuel at low cost.
This war has made trouble for many countries - including subcontinent. Sri Lanka and Pakistan faced so much trouble for not participated in their war.
Oh GOSH, the world is in chaos.

Today, Gazprom stopped gas supplies to the Netherlands for non-payment under the new scheme. It seems the same fate will befall Denmark.

India spends 70 billion usd on its defence and same is volume of trade with China. India is now moving to west for procurement of weapons. The recent induction of rafale fighter from France is part of that move. Russian weapons are not that much advanced or reliable in 21st century compared to western weapon system.

Yes, it's all true! And don't forget that this will also partially affect Germany :) But supporting terrorists and fascists, such as today's Russia, always leads to such consequences. I have already said this is a retribution for flirting with terrorists. There was no need to close your eyes and express "deep concern". Well, it will now be 2 times colder in houses in Germany in winter - but it will warm the idea that they "saved Putin's face" and "did not provoke Russia"! Did Germany really do well? :)
Regarding the stoppage of gas supplies to the Netherlands - they didn’t care about it, their honor and conscience are dearer to them! Moreover, they have LNG terminals, now they will increase the purchase of liquefied gas.
Denmark also turned out to be a country with an uncorrupted conscience and honor. Now they will simply increase production in the North Sea, and easily cover this shortage.