Russia cut gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland this week for failing to pay in roubles, raising fears that other countries could be next.
Moscow's decree says Gazprombank would open special "K" type accounts for gas payments from foreign buyers. An EU company would transfer foreign currency into one such account, and then a Russian bank would convert the payment to roubles and transfer the roubles to another "K" account belonging to Gazprom.
European Union countries remain divided over whether sanctions would be broken if they engage with Russia's roubles payment demand.
Russia's decree said the buyer's obligation would be considered fulfilled only when the roubles arrived in Gazprom's account.
"There are European guidelines on payment modalities, which form the framework for us and which we adhere to," a spokesperson for Germany's Economy Ministry said on Friday in an e-mailed statement.
"According to these guidelines, account K, to which payment is made in euros/dollars, is in line with the sanctions if companies declare that contracts have been fulfilled with payment in euros or dollars."
A government source said that it was irrelevant in which country the K account is opened as long as the bank in question was not on any sanctions list.
The European Commission will provide EU countries with extra guidance on whether they can keep paying for Russian gas without breaching the bloc's sanctions, a Commission official told Reuters on Friday.
Companies and countries were at odds over Moscow's rouble-for-gas payment system on Friday, while European officials promised more guidance on whether buying Russian gas can comply with sanctions and Russia said it saw no problem with its plan.
It did not specify whether companies could do this and also open a rouble account, as requested by Russia, without being in breach of EU sanctions.
Denmark's Orsted said it has no intention of opening a rouble account in Russia, although it declined to comment on payment in other currencies. Italy's ENI also said it had not opened an account in roubles.
Under Russia's mechanism, buyers are obliged to deposit euros or dollars into an account at privately-owned Russian bank Gazprombank, which has then to convert them into roubles, place the proceeds in another account owned by the foreign buyer and transfer the payment in Russian currency to Gazprom.
EU energy ministers will on Monday hold an emergency meeting to discuss their response to Russia's demand.
The European Commission, the EU executive, has already said countries may be able to make sanctions-compliant payments provided they declare their payments are completed once it has been made in euros and before it is converted into roubles.
EU countries, however, have said they want more clarity, while Germany, the bloc's biggest economy and among the most dependent on Russian gas, says it cannot afford to stop buying Russian supplies, even though it is taking steps to find alternative sources of energy.
A European Commission official told Reuters on Friday the executive will provide EU countries with extra guidance following complaints from some countries that ambiguity would leave different countries reaching different interpretations of what they were allowed to do.
Russia on Friday said it saw no problem with its proposed system.
"If the established procedure for interaction between gas buyers and the authorized bank is observed by the buyer, and there are no problems for the authorized bank in terms of selling currency on the stock exchange due to restrictive measures on the part of foreign states, then there cannot be any obstacles to paying for and receiving natural gas," Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said.
The rouble has to an extent benefited from Moscow's demand for roubles payment. The currency hit its highest level versus the euro in more than two years on Friday supported by capital controls as the central bank cut interest rates for the second time this month.
European gas prices have hit record levels since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Europe's top gas supplier, and were up slightly on Friday.
Central to the confusion on the part of the European buyers is whether Russia would only consider the payment to be complete after the gas-to-roubles conversion is done - a transaction that would involve Russia's central bank, which is subject to EU sanctions.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an EU diplomat admitted a certain amount of ambiguity could be helpful as the bloc seeks to prevent any widening of divisions between countries, which have different levels of reliance on Russia and different deadlines to make payments.
"In the circumstances, a little bit of messiness might just be preferable," the diplomat said.
Poland and Bulgaria have contracts with Gazprom due to expire at the end of this year, which meant their search for alternative supplies was already advanced. Poland also has very healthy gas stocks around 77% full.
Austria’s OMV, which has a contract with Gazprom until 2040, said it was analyzing how a change could be implemented for it to pay in roubles without breaching sanctions when next payment is due in May.
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