Russia's Putin, Germany's Scholz spoke, agreed to hold talks on gas purchases in roubles

Joel Frank Independent Analyst

Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held talks on Wednesday, reported Russian state media, and agreed to hold talks between experts on the potential for rouble payments for Russian gas payments. The call comes ahead of a 31 March deadline set by Putin for Gazprom and the Russian central bank to arrange for rouble payments for gas from "unfriendly countries", and may ease some fears of imminent disruption of gas flows into Europe.

Market Reaction

The Bloomberg Energy Index has been on the back foot in recent trade, perhaps as European gas shortage fears ease. The index has pulled back from around 101.50 to around 100.50 in a matter of minutes.

Author

Joel Frank

Independent Analyst

Joel Frank is an economics graduate from the University of Birmingham and has worked as a full-time financial market analyst since 2018, specialising in the coverage of how developments in the global economy impact financial asset

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