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Russia's energy giant Gazprom is considering to ensure the possibility of switching to the ruble-denominated settlements in new export contracts, the Kommersant newspaper reported citing its sources.
The possibility of transferring its export contracts for Russian oil and gas supplies to rubles has been actively discussed in the past 1.5 years, but, as noted by the source, real progress is little.
Gazprom declined to comment.
According to Kommersant, those proposals seek only to ensure that export contracts provide for such an option. The minimum share of ruble-denominated payments will not exceed 10%, according to the report.
The idea that settlements for Russian oil and gas supplies under the export contracts should be made in the Russian ruble has been voiced after the introduction of Western sanctions in 2014, as the United States is able to block dollar-denominated settlements for Russian goods. Although all major Russian oil and gas exporters have been declaring their readiness to at least consider such option, they yet acknowledge that the transition to ruble settlements is hardly feasible.
JSC Gazprom Neft was the only one that began last year selling oil supplied by tankers from the Novoportovskoye deposit for the Russian ruble, but the volumes are said to be small and the buyer is unknown.
Earlier, Gazprom also announced that it was discussing to transfer payments for supplies along the western route to China into the ruble or the renminbi. But according to sources, the dollar remains the base currency for carrying out settlements.
A source close to Gazprom believes that the Russian energy giant is seeking to secure its position, especially in the aftermath of introduction of the U.S. sanctions against the South-Kirinskoye field.
"Direct U.S. financial sanctions against Gazprom are unlikely, but why not have a backup plan for this case," the source said.