OREANDA-NEWS  Demand for Russian energy carriers in Europe remains high and there is no need to talk about Russia's displacement from European markets, Director of the fourth European Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Yuri Pilipson said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

On March 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the transfer of payment for natural gas supplies to the European Union and other states that have imposed restrictive measures against the Russian Federation into rubles in order to abandon the use of dollars and euros in settlements. Then he signed a corresponding decree and said that if unfriendly countries do not pay in rubles from April 1, Russia will consider it a default on gas contracts.

The situation with gas in Bulgaria worsened at the end of April, when Gazprom stopped supplies to the country due to their non-payment in rubles under the new scheme. "We do not see a clear economic justification for such actions: costs are increasing, there are risks of shortage of the necessary volumes. Bulgarian consumers, in turn, are convinced that the real increase in gas prices is offset by the mythical "strengthening of Bulgaria's energy security," the diplomat said, commenting on the fact that Sofia stopped receiving Russian gas due to refusal to pay for supplies in rubles.
Pilipson noted that the payment algorithm proposed by Russia in April is transparent, simple and reliable, and many European companies successfully use it.