Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered on Thursday that Western countries must open accounts with Gazprombank from today in order to continue receiving Russian gas. Otherwise, deliveries would be halted for states included on an “unfriendly countries” list. The states must therefore have accounts that have an area for currencies – i.e. euros or dollars – and one for ruble have to ensure future payment in Russian currency.
In the “ZiB 2” interview, Wifo boss Gabriel Felbermayr talks about the effects of the gas dispute on Austria and western countries. “The problem with the Russian announcements: you don’t know what they’re worth,” said Felbermayr. According to the economics expert, Putin could turn off the gas tap at any time: “You can find excuses for this if you build in hurdles in payment transactions.” However, he assumes that the gas will continue to flow for the time being.
According to the decree signed by Putin, payments can still be made in euros or dollars to the Russian account. Gazprombank then exchanges the money for ruble and transfers the amount to Gazprom. In Russia, there is already an order that all companies that take euros or dollars must exchange 80 percent of them for rubles. In the future it should be 100 percent. For Russia, the system would have the advantage that the country that recently came under pressure because of Western sanctions ruble significantly upgraded – “a way to keep the war machine running,” says Felbermayr.
But Europe would have other economic levers at its disposal to exert even more pressure on Russia. The Wifo boss: “If you were willing to impose a gas embargo, you would make it impossible for Russia to continue to support the ruble rate. But that would be associated with a recession in Austria and also in other EU countries .”
“If gas imports were to be stopped, the inflation rate would probably be in the double digits in the short term. You can tell that we would suffer a massive loss of purchasing power,” said Felbermayr.
- Video: Economic researcher Gabriel Felbermayr in the “ZiB 2” interview:
Source: Nachrichten
