High tension on Russian gas, Eni opens an account in rubles

Two accounts with Gazprombank.

The first in euros, the second in rubles, as requested by Moscow.

After days of consultations and hidden tensions with Brussels, Eni announces the start of that procedure to pay for Russian gas that other European companies - perhaps with greater discretion - are also adopting at the same time.

The move of the six-legged dog, however, makes the clash with the EU plastic.

On the one hand, there is the Commission, according to which paying in rubles and opening an account in Russian currency is a violation of sanctions.

On the other hand, there are the (many) European companies which, like Eni, claim to act in compliance with the EU regulation since, even if they open the second account in rubles, they will still pay for Moscow gas in euros.

A few hours before Eni's announcement,

Of course, it is not up to the European executive but to each capital to supervise the application of the sanctions.

But "sanctions have a legal obligation and otherwise the Commission can open the infringement procedure", Mamer specified.

For many European companies, however, the die has already been cast.

Eni, with the expiry of the May invoice arriving on the 20th, announced the opening of the two 'K' accounts clarifying "that the fulfillment of contractual obligations" with Gazprom "is understood to be completed with the transfer in euros" to the bank of the Russian giant.

And his was certainly not a sudden move.

"The decision - underlined the group - was shared with the Italian institutions".

After all, the six-legged dog has done nothing but move in that "gray area"

that, from Washington, Prime Minister Mario Draghi himself had pointed out on the subject.

So much so that the guidelines issued by the EU for companies at the end of April were considered insufficient by Rome and other capitals.

However, the Commission has decided not to draw up a new vademecum but to update the existing one with an interpretative note.

And according to the indications of Brussels, Russian gas must be paid in the currency indicated by the contracts with Gazprom, ie euros or dollars.

In this regard, companies are called upon to make a public declaration in which they affirm that the contractual obligations are respected by paying in euros or dollars.

Furthermore, the interpretative note does not specify in black and white whether opening a second ruble account with Gazprombank violates the sanctions.

And this, several European companies and chancelleries, has not escaped.

It must be said that last May 2, in a letter to customers, Gazprom corrected the Kremlin's shot by ensuring that in the conversion from euros to rubles required by the decree, the Russian Central Bank, subject to EU sanctions, would not even be involved. entrance.

Many jumped at the compromise offer.

"

in the face of energy famine, it risks melting away.

With an idea that has been circulating in the corridors of Brussels for a few days: "With Russia in military difficulty, perhaps, the urgency of sanctions is no longer even so necessary".