Kremlin Says No Decision Made Yet on Selling Russian LNG for Rubles

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - There are no decisions made in the Kremlin yet on the prospect of switching payments for imported Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to rubles, as it was done for pipeline gas earlier this year, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"So far, no decisions have been made in this regard. And there are no draft decrees to this effect," Peskov told a briefing, answering the question on the prospects of selling LNG for rubles and whether it is being considered by the Kremlin.

Peskov advised referring all other questions regarding the Gazprom executive's initiative to the company itself. This includes a clarification if the initiative applied only to Gazprom's LNG or all Russian LNG.

On Monday, a senior Gazprom executive, Kirill Polous, said that the difference in payment arrangements creates "currency competition" between Russian pipeline gas and LNG. He called for a mechanism to eliminate this competition.

In March, after Russia's financial sector was targeted by Western sanctions over Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin decreed that foreign exporters start paying for Russian pipeline gas in rubles. A special payment arrangement has been worked out for foreign buyers to continue depositing foreign currency which is then converted into rubles on the Moscow Exchange by an intermediary bank and wired to Gazprom.