Sept 6 (Reuters) – Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Tuesday it had signed an agreement to start converting payments for gas deliveries to China into yuan and rubles.
The change is part of efforts by Russia, sanctioned by the West since the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February, to reduce its dependence on the US dollar, the euro and other hard currencies in its banking system and trade.
Russia is forging closer economic ties with China and other non-Western countries, in particular to find new markets for its hydrocarbon exports.
Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller said allowing payments in Russian rubles and Chinese yuan would be “mutually beneficial” for both Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation, a Chinese state-owned oil company.
“It will simplify the calculations, become an excellent example for other businesses and give additional impetus to the development of our economies,” he said.
Gazprom did not provide additional details or say when payments would switch from dollars to rubles and yuan.
Moscow began delivering gas to China at the end of 2019 via a 3,000 km pipeline in Siberia. At the beginning of February, before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia signed an agreement with Beijing providing for the delivery of 10 billion cubic meters per year, valued at 37.5 billion dollars over 25 years, on the basis of a price of 150 dollars for 1,000 m3. (Reuters report; French version Federica Mileo, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
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