Why Russia’s Natural Gas Leverage Won’t Last Much Longer

Why Russia’s Natural Gas Leverage Won’t Last Much Longer

A Gazprom sign hangs at a German soccer stadium. (Photo by Christof Koepsel/Bongarts/Getty Images) Last week, as anyone following Russia and the war in Ukraine should have seen coming, the Russian government stopped shipments of natural gas to Poland and Bulgaria over payment issues. Following a Putin directive, Russia's Gazprom – majority-owned by the state – said it would only accept payment in rubles. Italian oil firm Eni is setting up a ruble account, Forbes reported. So is Uniper of Germany. This is all because the U. S. and allies have frozen more than $250 billion worth of Russia's Central Bank dollar and euro accounts abroad. Russia's government has a hard time exchanging currency now. So if the Europeans want its natural gas, it is going to have to exchange currency for them and send the Russians rubles. This should be interesting... That Europe is still wedded to Russian natural gas might be considered a side effect of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Recall, the ex-president's comments to the Germans in 2018 when he said their dependence on cheap Russian natural gas was an economic and national security risk. They disagreed, of course, because when it comes to national security, Germans posited,