Hungary plans to pay for russian gas in euros through Gazprombank, while it will convert the payment into rubles in accordance with the new requirement of Vladimir Putin.
This was announced on April 11 by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó, reports Reuters.
According to the scheme, CEE Energy - a subsidiary of Hungarian energy group MVM - will pay the future bill in euros. Gazprombank will convert these funds into rubles and then transfer them to russian Gazprom Export, a subsidiary of russian Gazprom.
Since there is not much time left until the payment of bills, the European Commission noted earlier that those who have contracts with russia prescribed payment in dollars or euros must comply with the contracts.
Last week, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, said that Hungary will violate EU sanctions if it pays for russian energy in rubles.
Then the representative of the Hungarian government Zoltán Kovács commented on von der Leyen's statement. He said that Hungary's payment for russian gas in rubles would not violate the sanctions against russia. The country has bilateral contact with russia, so the choice of currency is a technical issue.