-Gazprom's sells first gas to Europe in rubles
Due to the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and by a large number of Western countries, the Russian authorities retaliated by reducing the use of the dollar in its national economy and international trade.
The Russian energy company Gazprom sold its first natural gas to western Europe in rubles last week.
Gazprom's export division, Gazprom Export, announced in last week’s statement that the first natural gas sales to western Europe were carried out via an electronic sales platform.
Elena Burmistrova, managing director of Gazprom Export hailed the gas sales in rubles not only as a commercial transaction but a symbolic one.
“We want to continue our natural gas sales in rubles,” she said.
The electronic sales platform enables European consumers to buy additional natural gas in addition to their existing import contracts.
Russia’s Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin recently said that various steps would be taken to 'nationalize' the country's economy.
According to the report published by the Central Bank of Russia, in the second quarter of 2018, the bank's US$100 billion reserves were converted into yuan and euro.
-S-400 response from Russia
While the spat with the U.S. over Turkey’s S-400 air missile system purchase continues, Russia criticized recent comments made by U.S. officials.
The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department of Arms Control, Vladimir Yermakov, said that Washington's attempts to block the delivery of S-400s to Turkey shows the U.S.’ weakness in the global arms market.