Gazpromneft offers to pay in rubles

Gazpromneft has offered its foreign partners to pay in rubles. Other oil companies are in no hurry to follow the recommendation of chairman of the VTB’s Board Andrei Kostin on transfer to settlements in national currencies. Such variant is safer in case of aggravation of relations with the West, but the partners of Gazpromneft may have problems with currency risks hedging, experts say.

"We have sent proposals [to our partners] to consider possibility of settlement in rubles and wait for response from our customers," - Gazpromneft’s CEO Alexander Dyukov said on Friday. According to him, Belarus and Kazakhstan have already confirmed their willingness to pay in rubles. Switching to another currency won’t lead to any loss, the top manager is sure.