Said the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander NovakOn Thursday, half of the customers of Gazprom’s foreign companies opened accounts in rubles to make payments.

He explained that 54 companies that had contracted with Gosprom Exports had agreed to open Accounts In rubles, he added, “According to statistics, half of our gas customers have opened special accounts in hard currencies, ready to convert them into foreign currencies. Ruble“.

Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin shocked European governments and markets.

The ruble rose against the dollar on Thursday and turned into a five-year high against the euro as some gas buyers met Moscow’s demand to pay in Russian currency.

After sending tens of thousands of soldiers to Ukraine, the ruble has become the best performing currency this year, despite a severe economic crisis, artificially strengthened by sanctions imposed by Russia to protect its financial sector in late February.

Despite warnings from the European Commission, Russia’s mechanism for imposing the ruble violates sanctions, stressing the need to supply Russian oil, and some countries in the camp have opened ruble accounts to hasten the supply of Russian gas.

On Tuesday, the Italian oil company Eni announced the opening of an account in “Cosprom Bank” in euros and rubles.

German Economy Minister Robert Hebeck has stressed that Germany can no longer ban the supply of natural gas from Russia because it would create “economic problems, including high prices and the disruption of trade chains.”

As a result, the EU intends to supply 300 billion euros to Russia’s fossil fuels, ending Russia’s dependence on oil and gas.

EU President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that the European Union plans to mobilize 300 billion euros in investment by 2030 to end Russia’s dependence on oil and gas, according to Reuters.

German economist Achim Troger warned of the consequences of the Russian gas embargo on his country’s economy, saying that imposing such a embargo would lead to a deeper recession and recession in the German economy.

He pointed out that cutting off Russian gas supplies would lead to the loss of 500,000 jobs in Germany, and the country would be plunged into a cycle of inflation, according to German NTV television.

Last week, Ukraine said it was blocking the flow of gas through its territory through a transport point carrying nearly a third of the fuel transported from Russia to Europe, and blamed Moscow for the move, saying it was diverting the flow.

Ukraine remains a major transit route for Russian gas to Europe, even after the Russian invasion of its territory.

But Gosprom, which has a monopoly on Russian gas exports through pipelines, said it was “technically impossible” to divert all volumes further west to the Sudka Link Point, as suggested by Ukraine’s Jitzo.

“The ruble’s decision has economic objectives, including increasing demand for the Russian currency, and has a symbolic meaning behind Russia’s attempt to break the dominance of the dollar and the euro,” said Russian economist Vladimir Igor. In the field of energy conservation.

He told Sky News Arabia that the ruble was a reminder to Europeans of Russia’s dependence on resources, especially gas, as they continue to impose sanctions and say they are ready to abandon the Russian language.

Commenting on the Ukrainian decision, he stressed that “this could lead to a new gas crisis at the European level: perhaps a crisis similar to the one in 2006 and 2009, the so-called first and second gas wars, is dangerous. Fuel supply to the EU is waiting for us.”

The European continent depends on Russia’s gas supply for more than 40 percent of its energy needs.