Free Republic

Photo by Egor Filin on UnsplashIt appears that Putin's gambit is working.One day after Russia halted natgas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria due to "nonpayment in rubles", confirming that the country is willing to go ahead with its bluff and shut down supplies to "unfriendly" nations and sending European nat gas prices soaring, Bloomberg reports citing a person close to Russian gas giant Gazprom, that already Europe's fake united front is cracking as four European gas buyers have already paid for supplies in rubles as Russia demanded even as further cutoffs if others refuse the Kremlin’s requirement aren’t likely until...

Ukraine accused Russia of blackmailing Europe over energy in an attempt to break its allies, as fighting heads into a third month without Russia capturing a major city WARSAW/SOFIA/KYIV — Russia halted gas supplies to Poland under the Yamal contract on Wednesday, data from the European Union network of gas transmission operators showed, in a deepening of the rift between the West and Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Bulgaria, like Poland a NATO and EU member, said earlier that Russia would also halt supplies of gas to it. Ukraine accused Russia of blackmailing Europe over energy in an attempt...

On Sunday, Russia entered the third month of its invasion of Ukraine, with no sign of an end in sight. Despite severe pushback in the shape of the toughest economic sanctions ever imposed on a country, the ruble, the Russian currency, appears to be strengthening.What’s become evident is that, despite an enormously broad package of sanctions on Russia’s government and oligarchs, as well as an exodus of foreign enterprises, the moves are mostly ineffectual if foreign nationals continue to consume Russian oil and natural gas, which supports the ruble.On Feb. 24, the first day of the invasion, the ruble traded...

In revealing testimony before the Duma parliament, the head of CBR told she had to throw everything but the kitchen sink just to prevent a full-blown run on the banking system. “The sanctions imposed against Russia affected the situation in the financial sector, spurred the demand for foreign currencies, and caused fire sales of financial assets, a cash outflow from banks, and surging demand for goods,” said Elvira Nabiullina ... Presenting the CBR’s annual report to parliament, Nabiullina painted a picture to lawmakers of just how grim the situation was that confronted her. Depositors withdrew 2.4 trillion rubles in the...

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has issued a statement to India Today clarifying the rubles for gas mandate that has created confusion among Russia’s gas buyers, RT has reported on Tuesday. Buyers purchasing Russia’s gas will have to pay Gazprombank, an independent institution. -snip- Buyers can still, therefore, pay in the currency of their choice. But Gazprombank will convert the payment into rubles. Gazprom would then be able to access the funds in rubles, assured that those funds would not be subject to sanctions. “They won’t be able to keep this money in their banks. They will still pay in...

Russia's attempt to pay for two of its dollar bonds using rubles was deemed a potential default scenario by a derivatives industry watchdog on Wednesday, bringing the country to the brink of its first default in a century. The Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee — a panel within the The International Swap and Derivatives Association — ruled that a "potential failure to pay" event had occurred, Reuters first reported. It is still possible for Russia to avoid a default if it manages to pay bondholders using dollars before a one-month grace period ends on May 4. Russia has become increasingly cut...

Germany has said it will halt imports of Russian oil by the end of this year. "We will halve oil by the summer and will be at zero by the end of the year, and then gas will follow," said German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock. Germany currently buys a quarter of its oil and 40% of its gas from Russia... About 60% of Russia's oil exports go to Europe, and another 20% go to China.

The US and its allies have slapped a grand total of over 9,600 sanctions against Russian officials, the state, companies, tycoons and other entities in connection with the crisis in Ukraine. Moscow now has more restrictions against it than Iran, Syria, North Korea, Venezuela and Myanmar combined. Russia has successfully withstood unprecedented sanctions pressure from the West, President Vladimir Putin has said. "The calculation was to quickly undermine the financial and economic situation in our country, to provoke panic in the markets, the collapse of the banking system, and a large-scale shortage of goods in stores," Putin said, speaking at...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Western banks of failing to pay for Russian gas supplies after he demanded that European Union member states and other countries pay for Russian gas in rubles. Speaking at a meeting on the current situation in the country's oil and gas sector on April 14, Putin blamed Western partners for what he called "defaults on export deliveries of Russian energy resources." "Banks from these extremely unfriendly states are withholding the transfer of payments," Putin said. Last month, Putin demanded that EU nations pay for gas supplies in rubles as crippling international sanctions slapped on...

he Russian central bank sharply cut its key rate to 17% on Friday and said future cuts were possible, as emergency steps had contained the risk to financial stability, brought deposits back to banks and helped limit the threat of inflation, it said. -snip- Annual inflation in Russia accelerated to 16.70% as of April 1, its highest since March 2015 and up from 15.66% a week earlier, as the volatile rouble sent prices soaring amid unprecedented Western sanctions which cut Russia off the global financial markets and limited its trade with the outside world. External conditions for the Russian economy...

Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Friday it was exiting its business in Germany, amid a dispute between the two countries over Moscow's insistence on switching payments for Russian gas to rubles from euros. It was not immediately clear how the move would affect the supply of Russian gas, on which Germany depends for about 40% of its needs. The company said it had terminated its participation in Gazprom Germania and all of its assets, including Gazprom Marketing & Trading. It provided no further details or explanation. German business daily Handelsblatt reported on Thursday that the German economy ministry was...

The ruble appreciated to 83 to the dollar intraday on Tuesday against a record low of 139 on March 7.The ruble has recouped most of its losses and become the top-performing currency globally. It continues to gain and is up 60 per cent against the US dollar from its lows in the first week of March. The ruble appreciated to 83 to the dollar intraday on Tuesday against a record low of 139 on March 7. Thanks to the recent rally, the ruble is only about 10 per cent lower than what it was before the Russian invasion of Ukraine...

Rating company Fitch said it would declare the Russian state in default if it pays holders of dollar-denominated bonds in rubles. The Russian sovereign has $117 million in interest payments due today for two dollar-denominated government bonds—one maturing in 2023 and one in 2043. Russia’s finance ministry has sent conflicting messages about whether it intends to make the payment and, if so, in what currency. Fitch said that if these payments aren’t received in dollars and within the 30-day grace period, it will constitute a default.

Now that Moscow has doubled down on its demands that its European “partners” pay for its oil and gas in rubles instead of euros (which, as the bloc already demonstrated, can be easily confiscated in the name of “sanctions”), the German government is digging in its heels as the payment dispute threatens to precipitate problematic energy shortages in Europe’s largest economy. The FT reported Wednesday that German Energy Minister Robert Habeck has activated the “early warning phase” of Germany’s gas emergency law, which was adopted to help ration supplies in the face of a severe shortage. Too bad President Biden...

Europe is to crack down on fast fashion through proposals to make the clothing made and worn there more durable, reusable, repairable and recyclable. The sustainable textiles strategy, due to be unveiled on Wednesday, will target clothes at every stage of use, including design, repair and recycling. The initiative aims to boost the market for sustainably made garments. Manufacturers will have to ensure their clothes are eco-friendly and hard-wearing. It's estimated that less than 1% of all clothing worldwide is recycled. According to the European Environment Agency, clothes use in Europe has on average the fourth highest impact on the...

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Russia's demand that some buyers pay for its gas in roubles has raised concerns in Germany, which relies on Russian fuel, that the payment dispute could escalate and disrupt supplies. Russia accounted for 55% of Germany's gas imports in 2021. Although that figure fell to 40% in the first quarter of 2022, Economy Minister Robert Habeck has said Germany will not achieve full independence from Russian supplies before mid-2024. If Germany does not secure enough gas, industry will be hit first. It accounts for a quarter of German gas demand. "This means that industrial production gets lost,...

The U.S. dollar was plunging against the Russian ruble as Russia and Ukraine negotiators completed a round of talks in Turkey. The dollar USDRUB, -11.05% fetched 85.13 rubles, down from 95 rubles, as reports from Russian news wires suggested some progress in the negotiations. U.S. stock futures

I have been involved in financial markets for roughly 40 years, the news out this past Thursday was in my opinion more important than ANY announcement during those years. In fact, when I heard it, I thought of it as “the shot heard ’round the world”! But here we are Sunday and almost no discussion nor coverage of “Russia will demand trade payment from the unfriendly countries (the West) in gold…or rubles if they wish”. Are people so dumbed down they do not understand what was said? First a little background. Russia has been sanctioned by the West and even...

Russia is working out methods for accepting payments for its gas exports in roubles and it will take decisions in due course should European countries refuse to pay in the Russian currency, the Kremlin said on Monday. -snip- The Russian central bank, the government and Gazprom , which accounts for 40% of European gas imports, should present their proposals for rouble gas payments to President Vladimir Putin by March 31. “We are not going to supply gas for free, this is clear,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call. “In our situation, this is hardly possible and appropriate to...

Removing Russian banks from SWIFT but leaving the energy intact so Europe has power, was so brilliant they obviously never played chess. Putin just put Biden’s king in check by ordering Europe to pay for gas now in Rubles. That will provide support for the Ruble, and undermine Europe and its Euro as well as the dollar in the long run.