Japan and her Asian neighbours has joined EU countries in expressing their confusion over Russia’s demand that “unfriendly” countries pay for Russian gas in rubles.
In a statement on Wednesday 23rd March, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that gas sales to countries deemed unfriendly to Moscow would have to be paid in rubles. In his speech, Putin noted that illegitimate decisions by a number of Western countries to freeze Russia’s assets destroyed all confidence in their currencies and therefore those countries will have to pay for Russian gas in rubles.
In Asia, U.S allies; Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan who all import Liquefied Natural gas (LNG) from Russia’s Sakhalin-2 and Yamal LNG projects are included in the “unfriendly countries” club.
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Commenting on the development, Japanese Finance Minister Shun’ichi Suzuki said that Tokyo is confused about Russia’s demand.
“Frankly speaking, we do not yet fully understand the goals and how this will be carried out… the government is currently in discussions with the responsible ministries and agencies to assess the situation,” Suzuki stated.
Japan bought 6.84 million tons of LNG from Russia in 2021, which is nearly 9% of its total LNG imports.
Earlier in the month, Japanese trading houses, Mitsui and Mitsubishi said that they were not considering quitting Russia’s Sakhalin-2 project.
Japan’s Finance Minister noted that Tokyo’s decisions regarding further sanctions against Moscow will be made with consideration to their possible impact on the Japanese economy and financial markets. A number of the country’s major gas suppliers told Reuters they have not received notifications on changes to the currency of payment yet.
South Korea, Asia’s third-largest importer of Russian LNG, said it expects to be able to continue imports. The South Korean Financial Services Commission said it would do whatever was necessary to facilitate further trade with Russia.
Taiwan also said it has so far received “no news that the payment system will be adjusted.” The country’s upcoming gas shipment from Russia is due at the end of the month.
Following President Putin’s speech a week ago, German gas industry group Zukunft Gas said on Wednesday it was confused by the statement of Russian President Vladimir Putin about the switch of payments for Russian natural gas supplies to rubles.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur