Putin orders to redirect supplies of Russian energy resources from West to East

Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed on Thursday the government to prepare for turning supplies of energy resources to the East amid the West's plan to stop buying them.

Speaking at a meeting with the government in Moscow, Putin said the government should be prepared for the refusal by the European countries from the deliveries of the Russian hydrocarbons, including gas.

He noted that Russia's energy sector is already suffering from the Western sanctions, the logistics was broken and became more expensive, and the banks of "unfriendly countries" are delaying payments for the Russian supplies.

Putin added that Russia has already been taking some steps to transit payments for the energy resources to national currencies to leave the payments in dollars and euros, and he instructed the government to prepare the Russian foreign exchange market for such a transition so that it is possible to exchange freely and in the required volume any foreign currency for Russian rubles.

"In general, we intend to radically increase the share of settlements in national currencies in the foreign trade system.

"I repeat: the rejection of unreliable, compromised currencies and jurisdictions is a strategic task from the point of view of the financial and economic security of our country, important for maintaining and increasing the volume of foreign trade, establishing stable ties with predictable partners who are true to their word and value their business reputation, understand the consequences of their decisions," he said.

Putin warned that the Western intention to replace Russian suppliers on the energy market will affect the global economy, in the first turn -- the initiators of such a project.

Putin said he is surprised that the European partners admit that they cannot do without Russian energy resources, including gas, but continue talks about an embargo on the Russian supplies, which leads to the growth of prices.

He noted that only the US can direct some volumes of hydrocarbons to Europe, but the price will be much more expensive and affect the level of life of the European citizens and the competitiveness of the European economy.

He also said that by pursuing the goal of anti-Russian sanctions, the West gave up its "green agenda," the intention to stop using resources with the so-called "high carbon trace."

"Initially, serious experts and analysts warned, and publicly, said that an accelerated 'green transition' in practice would be impossible to implement without high costs. That's how it turned out in practice.

"And now there is a wonderful reason to cover up miscalculations and 'blame' everything in this case on Russia – miscalculations, incompetence not only in the energy sector, but also in many other areas."

Putin said it is necessary to keep in mind such an unstable line and to diversify export, to proceed from the understanding that the supply of energy resources in the western direction will be reduced.

"Therefore, it is important to consolidate the trend of recent years – to reorient our exports step by step to the fast-growing markets of the South and East. To do this, in the near future it is necessary to identify the key necessity of infrastructure facilities and begin their construction," he added.